Stealing a Princess
by ChillyPeepPenguins
Summary: Toothiana is a princess. She is the daughter of the king, and is expected to find a suitor by the time she turns 18. She is 17 (and a half) now, and when her father arranges a marriage between her and a man named Pitch Black, 20 years her senior, but a likely candidate for the throne, she has no choice but to go along. That is, until she meets Jack Frost... Full summary inside!
1. Fated Encounters

**Hey! First story here, feel free to bash it to your heart's content! Constructive criticism is welcome, but flames won't do anything, much less melt my ice cream sundae of creative-ness. (Is that even a word? Whatever.)**

**WARNING: This story will kindamaybeprobablytotally make your brain explode and your eyes bleed. Viewer discretion is advised.**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like I could own such an awesome movie! Ha! I wish. If I did own ROTG, I would have a ton of Rainbow Snowcone fluff! I do not own.**

**Enjoy! (Or not, it's your choice).**

* * *

Title: Stealing a Princess

Summary:

Toothiana is a princess. She is the daughter of the king, and is expected to find a suitor by the time she turns 18. She is 17 (and a half) now, and when her father arranges a marriage between her and a man named Pitch Black, 20 years her senior, but a likely candidate for the throne, she has no choice but to go along. That is, until she meets Jack Frost, a thief, in the middle of escaping her future husband's advances. Jack and Tooth gradually find themselves becoming friends, and when Tooth finally turns 18, she is forced to make a decision: Marry a man she hates, or run away with her best friend (who she happens to have a teensy little crush on) and leave behind everything she has ever known. Human AU!

Pairing: Tooth/Jack

Rating: K+ to T

* * *

Toothiana was bored. Sitting there listening to her mother go on and on and on about some sort of boring royal party she had to attend for her 18th birthday, she absent-mindedly played with her hair.

In her lap sat a book on medicine. She was halfway through the book by now, reading a chapter on the care of teeth. "_Yellow teeth are a sign of plaque," _it read. Squinting, she peered at her mother's teeth. They were relatively clean, with only a bit of yellow on her premolars. Earlier that day, she had inspected her own teeth, and was pleased to find that they were squeaky clean.

"Toothiana? Are you listening? Tooth! Pay attention when I am talking to you, young lady!" Her mother's voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Huh? What? Oh!" Startled, Tooth jumped, causing her papers to fly everywhere. Her mother's stern glare told her that she was not amused. Sheepishly, she grinned while bending down to pick up the papers. A flash of blue piqued her interest, and she leaned closer to inspect it, picking it up.

It was a poster of a handsome boy, around her age. On the top of the poster were the words, "WANTED: JACK FROST". In the picture, he was smiling devilishly, showing his beautifully white teeth, making him seem like he was planning something. The bottom of the poster had a description of him, which told her he was around 5'10" with brown hair, brown eyes, and was wanted for stealing a precious jewel from a noble family.

He was of no concern to her. It was the flash of blue on the poster, she told herself, that drew her attention to the poster, not his beautiful smile, as Jack Frost wore a blue tunic decorated with elaborate patterns that strangely reminded her of snow. Shrugging, she returned the poster to the pile of papers, folded her hands on her lap, and smiled demurely at her mother. "Yes, mother? I'm afraid I didn't hear you the first time," she said, straightening her dress.

Her mother huffed. "Honestly, Toothiana. You'll be turning 18 in 6 months, start acting more mature! Also, you have a marriage appointment today. Hopefully, you won't scare him off like those others," She told her. "You'll be meeting this man for lunch in 3 hours, so you've got to start getting ready!" They started walking towards Toothiana's bedroom.

"Another one?" Tooth whined. "But they're all so much older than me! Why can't I choose who I want to marry?" She wrung her hands in frustration.

"Because your father's getting old, Tooth, you know that. He needs a new ruler soon," her mother replied, patting her daughter's shoulder. Tooth shrugged her mother's hand off and stalked off, making a point of slamming the door to the library behind her.

* * *

Balancing precariously on a tree branch outside of a window, Jack Frost reached into his belt and pulled out a lock pick. He stuck it into the lock of the window, and jiggled it around until it made a satisfying 'click' sound. _Too easy, _he thought.

He gently pushed open the window, and landed lightly on the wool carpet. Scanning his surroundings, he found himself in a room filled with musical instruments. It was furnished with some benches, a piano, and instruments placed on shelves around the room.

Poking his head back out the window, he signaled his group, telling them that he had successfully infiltrated the castle. He saw his second-in-command, Bunnymund, nod in response. They had formulated a plan to steal a prized painting of the royal family's, and the rest of the group knew to stay hidden until he gave the signal for them to get out of the bushes and create a distraction.

The plan was working so far. He slowly opened the door a crack, checked for people, and tiptoed his way out into the hallway. He heard the sound of shouts, and quickly turned away from that direction. He glanced around for a hiding place, as he could now hear footsteps coming his way. Making a split-second decision, he ducked behind a wall hanging and waited for the footsteps to fade. They didn't. Instead, he heard them coming _closer _to him.

Holding his breath for fear of being discovered, he stilled. The person's shadow was directly beside his wall hanging now. Sneaking a glance, he let out a small gasp of amazement.

She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. With her dark, chocolate-colored hair, her small, thin, figure, and the way her cheeks were slightly pink from yelling, she was _gorgeous. _Her eyes seemed to change color as she caught her breath outside of the door, glancing around for the source of the sound.

Her clothes marked her as a person of the royal family that he was currently in the process of stealing from, but at the moment, the plan was forgotten as he gazed at her through the crack between the wall and the wall hanging. She looked to be around his age, but her eyes told him she was smarter than her age let on.

Hopefully, she wouldn't notice him.

She shrugged, her dark curls bouncing, as she seemed to think she had imagined it. Bringing up her fist to knock on the door, Jack noticed how, when she stepped into what seemed to be a library, all the tension seemed to melt off her. When the door finally closed, he let out a breath of relief.

Shaking his head to clear out the un-thief-like thoughts going through his 18-year old mind, he checked to see if the coast was clear, and carefully ducked into a room opposite to the library to wait until night.

* * *

As she walked into the library, her favorite place in the whole castle, she was greeted by the wonderful scent of paper and ink. Her favorite person in the whole entire castle worked in the library, too. His name was Sandy, and he was her tutor. He wrote to communicate, but with her, he used sign language, which she had learned at a very early age.

Sandy was what most people would describe as stout, with golden hair, and a smile forever plastered onto his jolly face. He waved to her as she walked up to the seat beside him and sat down.

Sandy stared at her curiously; as she was usually never this mad, not even when her father forgot her birthday. Taking that as an invitation to start explaining, Tooth launched into an in-depth explanation of everything that had happened since he had seen her last, excluding the part where she had found the poster of Jack Frost. That part had seemed too personal, even to be shared with the person she trusted most in the world, even more than her own father.

Reaching up, Sandy patted Tooth's head gently, telling her that all she had to do was survive the lunch and she would be fine. Unlike with her mother, this time Tooth didn't shrug off his reassurances of the fact that everything would turn out all right. Instead, she leaned down and wrapped her arms around her elderly tutor, and took comfort in the fact that he would be there for her, married or not.

Sandy was more of a father to her than her real father would ever be. She was ignored, even though she was the king's only child, and never talked to her father, save for exchanging a few formal exchanges. She stifled a groan of frustration as she sat up, letting go of her tutor.

"I've got to go get ready now, or mother will have my head for embarrassing her during this appointment," she told Sandy, sighing. "I might as well take a few books with me."

Sandy nodded and hopped off his stool to go pick up a few books for her. He knew all her favorites by now. All the books on medicine, she had read, and the newest shipment of books wouldn't be coming for at least a month. When he handed her the stack of books, she nodded thanks and handed in her homework for the day. Leaving the library carrying her stack of books, she walked towards her bedroom, towards her impending marriage appointment.

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**Well, that's it for the first chapter! Tell me if I should continue this little plot bunny! I love reviews, but a story alert would be nice too!**

**If you guys like, I'll try to post the next chapter in a few days maybe? (It's not like I've written anything yet! This chapter was typed up, proofread a couple times, spellchecked once, and immediately posted because I COULDN'T GET THIS PLOT BUNNY OUT OF MY HEAD!)**

**Wow. This chapter looked so much longer on Word... I shall have to work harder!**

**Yeah. So that's it! If you have time, please leave a review, even if it's only to tell me, "Your story sucks. Leave fanfiction immediately! Your story was so bad, it made my head explode and my eyes bleed." (Actually, that wouldn't be that nice, but whatever. Reviews are reviews!)**

**~Chilly**


	2. Meet the Suitor

**Wow. I love you guys! Can't believe you guys liked my story! Thanks to all the people who reviewed, favorited, and alerted, this chapter's for you guys!**

**Seriously. I love you guys so much, I just had to post this chapter today. (Please excuse me for my proofreading errors) Hope you like! (And hopefully this chapter will live up to your expectations!)**

**Disclaimer: Is there a ton of JackTooth fluff in the movie? No. So I don't own ROTG, unfortunately. Oh, all the things I could do... *Evil grin***

* * *

She was greeted by her nurse and caretaker, Imogen. Imogen was a kind, elderly, woman, who was constantly fussing over some thing or the other. Thickly built with long black hair streaked with grey that reached down to her hips, she was once called the most beautiful woman in the land. In Tooth's opinion, she still was, just in a different way.

Although she loved Imogen, Toothiana found the elderly woman's worrying slightly annoying. She sat down at her dresser, and Imogen quickly put her hair up into an elaborate bun.

Imogen dived into the closet and pulled out a long purple gown, with sleeves that billowed out, a low neckline, (too low, in her opinion) and a tight bodice. It didn't look very comfortable, so Tooth shook her head no. The next one Imogen pulled out was a lacy yellow dress that reached down to a bit below her knees. It was cute, but in a childish way, and Tooth didn't want her mother to scold her again for not acting her age. She shrugged, "It will have to do if we can't find anything else."

She caught a flash of bright green near the back of her closet. Slowly pushing herself up out of her chair, she walked over to the closet and tugged the dress out. The dress that had caught her eye was just _perfect. _It was a silky layered green dress, with a multitude of colorful layers underneath the translucent green outer skirt. It would go perfectly with the necklace she was wearing.

Turning around, she showed the gown to Imogen. "Would this look good on me?" She asked, holding it against her body and twirling.

"Of course, dear. Here, let me help you into it," Imogen took the dress from her and unbuttoned the back. She passed it back to Tooth, and Tooth quickly slipped into it. The fabric felt heavenly against her skin.

She stroked the soft silk while Imogen picked out a pair of gold earrings and some gold bangles and gave them to her. She felt her earlobe for her piercing, that she had just gotten 3 months ago. She remembered begging her mother to let her get her ears pierced, and after a while, her mother had finally relented. The next day, when she was getting pierced, she hadn't been expecting the pain when it came.

She had wanted to scream and cry, but since her mother was sitting right next to her, and she had begged for the chance to get her ears pierced, she had not wanted to give her mother another reason to scold her. So she had bit down on her lip until it bled, and afterwards she had had to go to the royal doctor.

Feeling them now, she found that they had healed up nicely after she had put on the ointment the doctor had given her. Her past experiences with putting on earrings had been painful, to say the least. So, taking extreme caution, she gently pulled out her earrings and replaced them with the new ones.

She was pleased to find that it had only hurt a little.

When she was all dressed and ready to go, it was already well past 5, and she only had 10 minutes to get to the dining terrace, where she would be meeting with her new suitor. The dining terrace was located only a short walk away from the library, where she had been earlier that day, so she retraced her steps and turned right to find herself facing the door to the terrace. Taking a deep breath, she raised her chin, squared her shoulders, and pushed open the door.

* * *

He had waited for at least an hour in the room. There was no way to tell time in the gigantic room, which was mostly bare. It was twice as big as the music room he had been in before, but this room was emptier than the other. There were no instruments, no piano. There were paintings all along the painted red walls, each of them unique and beautiful, in each individual artist's style.

Plaques read out each painting's title, artist, and date painted. Stopping at the painting closest to the middle of the wall, Jack peered up at the huge painting. It was twice as tall as he was, and ten times as wide. It depicted a woman with brown hair holding… Something. Jack couldn't quite place what it was the woman was holding. There were people reaching towards the woman, and it seemed to him that the woman was a queen. Upon closer inspection, Jack saw that the woman was wearing a crown.

Standing beside her, there was a man. While the woman was painted with astonishing detail, so that he could even see the color of her eyes, which he could never quite figure out what color they were, the tilt of her chin, and the intricately designed gold bangles on her slender wrists, he couldn't really make out what the man looked like.

He could only see that the man was paler than the woman was, and he was holding her free hand. In his other hand, he held a gnarled tree branch that resembled a shepherd's crook.

Underneath the mesmerizingly beautiful painting, there was a golden plaque, which read, '_Title unknown, Artist, Tsar Lunar, date unknown'. _

_The king's collection of paintings is said to rival even the greatest museums. _Jack recalled Bunnymund telling him something like that. He hadn't believed him then, but at the moment, standing in front of the impressive collection of priceless paintings, he finally saw that Bunny had been correct.

Tilting his head up to look at the paintings near the ceiling, he stood up on his toes to get a closer look. The painting he was supposed to be stealing was a painting of the Moon. Why it was such an expensive painting, he didn't know. He had heard it was painted so realistically, at nighttime it radiated a soft glow.

Surely such a wonderful painting would fetch a high price on the black market.

Jack had first started stealing to help his family. They had been poor, very poor, and the money had Jack made from selling the stolen items had been the only thing keeping them from starving to death. They hadn't known where the money was coming from, but at the time, they hadn't cared. Eventually, when they had found out, they had disowned Jack, fearing that his thefts would lead back to them. He had to leave his beloved little sister behind.

That was 2 years ago.

Months after being disowned, he formed a band of thieves. Recently, they had been making more and more money off risky robberies, and Jack was getting more daring. This was why they had constructed a plan to steal the king's prized painting.

Scanning the wall once again, he was disappointed to find that the painting was nowhere in sight. _Oh course he wouldn't leave such a precious painting in the same room as all the others, _he thought. Leaning against a table, he started planning his next course of action.

* * *

Dinner was going _just swimmingly. _Tooth had found out that her suitor loved to make small talk. Over the past 30 minutes, she had just sat there, zoning out and occasionally nodding, barely listening to him ramble on about his many 'great achievements'.

To top it all off, her mother was sitting across the table from her, sending disapproving glances every now and then.

She had learned that her suitor, Pitchiner, preferred to be called Pitch, he was turning 39 next week, and he loved the color purple.

"Just like your eyes," he said. Tooth inwardly scoffed at his flirting. Sure, Pitchiner Black was not what you would call ugly; rather, he was actually quite handsome. It was just... He was so full of himself! He acted like he was already king, and he didn't even let her say anything.

Didn't he realize, to marry her, she had to _actually like him? _Apparently not, for he had kept on talking, until Toothiana had finished her dessert and was politely wiping her mouth. His own dinner was untouched.

As she quietly excused herself to go the bathroom, Pitch got up from his seat. "Um…" she said. "What are you doing?"

"I believe it is too dangerous for a maiden to go traipsing off around a castle to go to the washroom alone. Therefore, I am going with you," he replied. She could see her mother nodding approval from the corner of her eye. _I can't believe her! She's just going to let me go with him to the washroom? What kind of mother is she? _Tooth glared at her mother as she opened the door, entering the hallway. Pitch followed her closely, and as she neared the bathroom after a few minutes of walking, he pulled her hand and stopped her.

"_What do you think you're doing?" _she hissed. He pushed her against the wall, arms on either side of her to prevent her from running.

"Trying to kiss my soon-to-be wife, of course." He smirked evilly. His teeth were disgusting. Yellow with plaque and filled with cavities, she would just as soon be cleaning toilets and washing clothes then let him kiss her. Looking around frantically, she found the hallway empty. No one around to save her from Pitch.

He lifted her chin with his finger, placed his other hand on her waist, and leaned down.

* * *

**Well. I really want to punch Pitch right now. I think I got his name right? Not really sure, and too lazy to check on the Internet...**

**Dangit! This chapter was like, 2 pages on Word, I spent _hours _typing it up, and it's only, what? Like, 1 500 words? Sigh. **

**Hope I didn't disappoint you guys with this chapter, I tried including more descriptions, so to me it seems awkward. But whatever.**

**Thanks for reading, and remember, reviews are my sustenance! (Actually, I get excited just looking at my views, but you guys don't need to know that :P).**

**~Chilly**


	3. Savior

**Hey everybody!**

**See how much I love you guys? I can't believe I updated so soon!**

**Ami-Wills: Thanks! I would totally give you a bone-crushing bear hug too, just for your sweet review!**

**I'm so proud of this chapter, it's like, 200 words longer than the other ones! :D (Without the author notes, I feel like I have a tendency to write unnecessarily long author notes).**

**I'm so honored you guys like my fanfiction so much, I was checking the views today, and I was like, WOW, somebody in China is reading this...**

**It made it totally worth the hours I invested into this fic. I love writing :)**

**Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own ROTG.**

* * *

Jack fingered the rough collar of his new clothes. While hiding in the room of paintings, a servant had walked into him admiring the one that had caught his eye before. Fortunately, before he could scream, Jack had knocked him out with a chop to the neck.

Deciding it was better to do map out the layout of the castle disguised as a servant, he had quickly taken off the outer layer of the servant's clothes and put them on over his own. He had dragged the servant to a corned, tied him up with some rope he had brought with him, and gagged him with a piece of cloth ripped off the window coverings.

Stepping back and admiring his handiwork, he found that even though he was good at his job as a thief, he still felt a stab of guilt whenever he had to knock out innocents to get to the targeted object. He positioned the male servant so that when he woke up, he wouldn't fall over and hit his head against the floor, and tried to make him as comfortable as possible.

Reaching into the backpack he had brought with him into the castle, he pulled out a wig. It was quite a realistic looking one, too. The hair was honey-colored, and nobody who didn't pay too much attention would notice that it wasn't real.

At least, he hoped they wouldn't.

He pulled the wig on, making sure to cover all of his own brown locks. Tucking in the corner of his tunic that was peeking out, he made sure none of his trademark blue clothes were showing, and that his tattered pants were carefully hidden by the servant's crisp, freshly ironed, pants.

The blue tunic that he always wore was a gift from his younger sister. She was 10 when he left, and already gifted with sewing. She had sewn it for him for his 15th birthday. It was covered in patterns that resembled frost, as winter was their favorite season.

It was the beauty and the purity of the snow that amazed him every time. During winter, it snowed often, and everything always looked infinitely more beautiful under the white blanket of frozen water droplets.

Throwing one last glance over at the magnificent painting, he quietly opened the large oak doors leading into the hallway and stepped out. _Act natural. _He knew that if he acted too suspicious, people would eventually discover him and throw him into jail, if not execute him.

Fortunately, he was a master at acting. Making his steps light and hurried, he acted as if he was a servant rushing to finish a task. Taking a rag out of his pocket, he started cleaning a mirror on the wall, trying his very best to act natural.

To an untrained eye, he would have looked just like a diligent servant going about his business.

It was an act Jack had perfected years ago, when he had stolen a large diamond from a noble family and had to escape, disguised as a servant going out to buy groceries. At that time, he had not had to knock out a servant to steal their clothes, because Bunnymund had had clothes already prepared for him.

Thinking back, Jack realized the clothes he had worn back then were almost identical to the ones he wore now. Another stab of guilt at the thought of the servant he had left knocked out, tied, and gagged in the room.

No. Shaking his head, he told himself, _No. I can't feel sorry for the people that get into my way. I need to steal to keep the rest of the group alive. _Over the years, more and more people had joined his little band of thieves. Now numbering at around 20 people, they were constantly on the move to avoid the authorities.

They were only passing through the capital city when Bunnymund had heard rumors of the king's precious painting. Somehow, he had convinced Jack that stealing from the king was a good idea.

Not that Bunny ever had difficulty convincing anyone. At 6 feet tall, he towered above everyone, even Jack. He spoke in an accent, which marked him as from the Southeastern part of the country, was well muscled, and wasn't afraid to make people agree with his views.

Although Bunny was intimidating on the surface, Jack had eventually gotten to know and trust him. He made great plans, and could always find a good solution to a bad situation. Bunnymund was also a great leader, but knew to step aside when Jack wanted him to.

Jack thought he couldn't do better for a second-in-command.

At the moment, though, he was starting to doubt in Bunny's plan. Hearing voices, he quickly hid himself behind a tall vase. Curious, he peeked out from behind the beautifully decorated porcelain.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

* * *

"No! Get away from me!" Toothiana tried to escape the arms trapping her against the wall to no avail. She had tried everything she could think of. Pushing him back, she ducked her head as he tried to kiss her again and again.

"Ooh, feisty," Pitch growled, smirking. "I like that in a woman." Tooth almost threw up at his tone. Reaching her hand up to slap him, he pinned it down with one of his own.

When he leaned down again, she turned her head to the side. Finally tiring of their game of cat-and-mouse, Pitch closed his fingers once again on her chin and tilted her head to face him.

She couldn't escape now. Tooth pinched her lips shut. As she braced for the worst, she heard a dull 'thump' and felt the hands gripping her chin and her hand loosen. Pitch's body slumped against the wall beside her, and she quickly pushed him off her.

He fell to the floor, arms splayed in an almost comical pose. Biting down a hysterical giggle, she looked to see who her savior was. He was standing there, fists at his sides.

A blonde male servant, she thought.

Until she saw the brown hair peeking out from under what seemed to be a wig. Looking closer, she saw a bit of blue underneath the disheveled clothes. _That's strange, _she thought. _Why would a servant need to disguise him or herself? _

Seeing her apparent interest in him, the servant smiled widely. Tooth gasped. It was the exact same face and the exact same smile as the face on the poster.

The same face that belonged to none other than Jack Frost. But why would Jack Frost save her? Unless he was planning to kidnap and ransom her for money? That would make more sense.

All she knew was that she would have to be very careful with this particular person.

* * *

Jack had responded instinctively when he saw Pitch. You see, he and Pitch had met each other before, not in the best of circumstances, either. He had been running away after stealing an expensive ring from somebody in the market, when Pitch had pulled him into an alleyway and threatened to bring him to the authorities if he didn't give him the ring.

At the time, Jack wasn't all that experienced at stealing and getting away. He couldn't fight somebody that much taller than him, and Pitch had been at least 2 heads taller than him at the time.

Jack had tried his best to run away, but Pitch had been unbelievably strong, and had the advantage of being taller. He had been smart enough to place himself between Jack and the only entrance to the alleyway, so Jack had no choice but to hand the ring over.

"_Fine. I'll hand the ring over," Jack spit out, pretending to give up. He had a plan, one that was risky and dangerous, as an enraged person was not going to be easy to beat. He would pretend to hand the ring over, and then punch the mysterious person in the nose._

_Jack would not take kindly to being threatened in a dark alleyway._

_So he proceeded to put his plan into action. When he got to the punching part, the man seemed to predict his movements and catch Jack's fist before it could hit his face. Then he retaliated with a punch of his own, and Jack was immediately knocked out by the man's strong punch._

_The incident had left his nose broken for months, and he wasn't able to steal for a while. He would never forget the man's beady eyes as he threatened him._

A year later, he had found out that the man was Pitch, a man who was trying to marry into the royal family and become king. At first, he had considered telling the authorities about the incident, but that would mean admitting he had stolen, which would probably result in his execution.

So, Jack had kept quiet, and as the months passed, he had gradually forgotten all about the nobleman who had threatened him in a dark alleyway when he was 16.

Until now. He had been forcing himself on a girl, probably more than 20 years younger than him, and Jack did not have the self-control to stop himself from punching him.

Before he had passed out, Pitch's eyes had flashed in brief recognition of the boy he had knocked out in an alleyway more than 2 years ago.

Pulling himself back to the present, Jack found himself standing over the fallen body of the man he despised most, and the girl he had met earlier that day.

She was just as beautiful as the first time he had seen her, perhaps even more, which was probably because she was staring at him with obvious interest. Sending what he hoped was a reassuring grin at her, he rubbed his neck awkwardly as she kept on looking at him.

He could feel her gaze stopping at his face.

Seeing himself in the mirror, he inwardly panicked when he saw a bit of his hair peeking out from underneath his wig. Hopefully, she wouldn't pay too much attention to his hair, as she would probably wonder why a servant was wearing a wig.

He had a hunch that she had already figured out who he was and was deciding whether or not to report him to the king.

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter! Did you like the way they met? I would love some feedback, as it's kinda hard to keep them in character and describe their thinking...**

**Check out the poll on my profile, it's about North's role in this story! I need you guys to vote fast, I think I'm going to write about North in the next chapter or two...**

**Reviews=cookies!**

**Thank you guys so much for the enthusiastic reviews! You're so encouraging, and I never would have been able to continue this story if not for you guys!**

**Please excuse my grammar mistakes, I tried to proofread as fast as possible to get this chapter out ASAP!**

**Edit: I can't update until there are at least 20 votes for the poll on my profile, but I'm typing the main part of the chapter today, maybe update tomorrow?**

**~Chilly, over and out!**


	4. Beginnings

**Hey there, everybody.**

**I know I said I wouldn't be able to update today, but my plans were canceled when I was hit with this chapter. Seriously. The idea for this chapter hit me like a truck at like, 4 am in the morning. So, I quickly wrote down the basic ideas, started writing, and here we are now.**

**I need you guys to vote on the poll on my profile! It's to decide North's role in the story, and I need at least 20 votes before I can write the next chapter! **

**WOW. Can't believe you guys like this story so much, I saw the number of hits this morning, and was crying tears of happiness! The number 1,000 never looked more beautiful to me... :')**

**Disclaimer: I really do wish I owned ROTG... But sadly, I don't. It would be nice though. But I don't.**

* * *

They stood there awkwardly, trying to find words to say. Jack had his hands behind his back, and was looking everywhere except at her. He tried not to look into her eyes; it would make him even more tongue-tied than he was now. Being wary, he took a tiny step back and leaned against the other wall.

She was trying her best to say something. Anything. Anything at all to make this awkward silence between them less awkward. She stared down at her toes. Tooth was wondering what Jack Frost could possibly want with her again. She brainstormed the benefits of saving her, and came up empty.

Lifting her head, she peered at him, trying to read his face. When she found that he was looking avoiding looking at her, she smiled inwardly. "Thank yo-

Her thanking him was cut off by the sound of a maid pushing a cart down the hall. _Oh no. What will this look like, with Pitch passed out and me standing around with a servant? _She panicked. Scanning the hall, she quickly selected a random door.

"Quick! Help me pull him inside, or we'll get discovered and they'll ask questions!" She whispered, as she jerked her head towards Pitch' fallen figure. He gave her a nod of understanding, as the sound of the cart was gradually getting closer and closer.

Giving a grunt of effort, Tooth struggled to haul Pitch towards the door, helped by Jack. Her suitor had seemed like a tall person, and she couldn't believe how heavy he was. Even with Jack helping her, she was panting with exertion when she finally closed the door to the room softly and slid down, relieved that they hadn't been caught.

Placing her ear at the door, she listened for the sound of the cart rattling along the hallway, and let out a sigh of relief when she heard the sounds fading.

Now that they were out of immediate danger, she turned to look at the man who had saved her, surprised to find him sitting at the window of the room. He was staring outside, focused on something in the distance.

She surprised herself when she sat down beside him. Making a point by tapping his shoulder, he turned his body to face her.

She made a point of staring right into his eyes, finding them the most delightful icy-blue color.

"I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for saving me yet," she started. "So thank you." Tooth remembered the ease in which Jack had knocked Pitch out. It was reminded her of how helpless she was back there.

She shivered at the memories.

* * *

Jack turned a light shade of pink as he was being thanked. He wasn't usually thanked for his actions, just yelled at or congratulated. Being thanked was something entirely different. It gave him a warm feeling, one that started from his stomach and spread from the tips of his toes to his fingertips.

He could get used to this.

Rubbing his neck again, he replied, "No problem. I couldn't just stand by and watch someone get hurt, you know what I mean?" Unbeknownst to him, with his constant neck-rubbing, his wig had started to slip even more, and more strands of his hair had started to show.

She was staring at him again.

He remembered the look of terror in her eyes as she was pressed against the wall by Pitch, and a wave a rage passed through him. His hands unconsciously clenched into fists at his sides.

Lacing his fingers together, he placed his elbows on his knees to hide his trembling. _I'm not trembling because I'm scared, _he told himself. _I'm trembling because I'm mad at Pitch, and what he did to me. _

Still, Jack tried to calm his anger and finally worked up the courage to look at her. She was staring at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say more.

"Are you alright?" He asked her. She nodded. "Good, I need to get going. I need to get to cleaning that hallway again…" He trailed off when she shot him a piercing stare.

Unnerved, he started to get up from his seat at the window and make his way to the door, but her hand shot out and caught his hand before he could escape.

"And why would the famous thief, Jack Frost, feel the need to dress up as a servant in this castle?" She asked, seemingly curious. Her eyes showed no suspicion at his actions, just burning curiosity.

Sighing, he decided to answer with a question of his own.

"Who are you talking about?" He feigned ignorance, trying not to let his face show his panic. Schooling his features into what he hoped was a blank expression, he stared at her hand on his wrist.

* * *

"Drop the act, Frost. I can see some of your hair peeking out from underneath your wig, and your blue clothes are showing." Toothiana decided not to mention the fact that she was able to tell who he was by his teeth. That would be embarrassing.

And so he did. He let his blank face fall away, and drew himself up to his full height, trying to scare her enough to stop asking questions. Tooth wasn't impressed. Her father, the king, had always adopted a certain look whenever he was lying, and Jack Frost was wearing that look right now.

Sandy called clues that told you when a person was lying 'tells'. Tells were certain actions a person does reflexively when they lie, like refusing to make eye contact, touching their face excessively, and stiff facial expressions.

Jack, she decided, was an excellent liar. As Tooth was a very observant person, she usually had no trouble at all to tell if a person was lying or not. Only by paying very close attention could she see the way Jack's eyes were a bit wide, and his face was blank.

Yes, he was a good liar, indeed. Even her father could never trick her, though she chose not to tell anybody that she could tell who was lying or not. Sandy had taught her during one of their many lessons in the library.

She didn't like the way he automatically decided to use the scare tactic on her. She wasn't some meek little girl who would let herself be intimidated. So she lifted her chin and stared at him right back.

"I suggest you stop trying to intimidate me. It won't work." She remembered the frequent assassination attempts. As the only child of the king, she was wanted dead by many. After the first assassin had been sent after her and had failed, her father closed himself off to her.

When he had once been a loving and caring father, he became withdrawn, stiff, and cold. He was constantly scowling, and Tooth hadn't seen him smile for _real _ever since. It broke her heart.

The king had once been a jolly person with a vibrant personality. He had played his fiddle for his daughter and his wife whenever he could, and had always been seen laughing or joking around with his guards and staff.

They had all loved him. It was probably the pressure of years of ruling catching up with him, combined with the close save with the assassin when she was 5.

Needless to say, her father wasn't the kind father she had played with when she was young anymore.

* * *

Jack decided to stop faking innocence.

"Those two points aren't enough to justify your suspicions with my being Jack Frost, though. So how did you really recognize me?" He had seen the way she had hesitated just a bit before telling him his wig was slipping and his tunic was showing. He was curious.

Normally, he never got caught. Sure, there had been a few close shaves, but they had all turn out all right in the end. This was the closest he had ever gotten to being discovered, and Bunnymund would kill him if he didn't at least _try _to find out how this girl had found him out.

She mumbled something he couldn't make out. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Jack could see the light dash of red along her cheeks, and Jack was curious as to what would make her blush.

She was beautiful when she blushed. The red blended perfectly with her dark skin tone, and he knew when he blushed the red stood out a lot. He had always had particularly pale skin, which never seemed to get darker no matter how much time he spent in the sun.

"I said, I recognized your teeth from the wanted poster," she muttered, a bit louder. "Your teeth are the whitest I've ever seen." She clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide, blushing even harder.

Now it was Jack's turn to blush. Nobody had ever complimented him on his teeth. He found it a bit strange that she would recognize his teeth, of all things.

In his confused state of mind, he tried to figure out what else to say. Instead, he found himself staring at her eyes intently.

When she caught him looking, she looked down, blushing even more, if that was even possible.

He took a pillow from the sofa in the middle of the room and started playing with it. In his nervousness, he started tying the ends of the strings together, until everything was tangled in a big mess.

She laughed at his frustration when he started tearing the strings apart.

* * *

The way his hands deftly tied the strings at the corners of the pillow reminded her of the way he brought Pitch down. She wanted to be able to do that. To defend herself. Maybe after her father saw that she could take care of herself, he would stop worrying and come back to her.

She stared down at her delicate hands. They were not fit for fighting, she knew, but for drawing and writing.

She didn't know what he was there for, but she trusted him. After all, he had saved her, and if he caused any trouble, she could always report him. Jack barely knew her, she thought. Why would he listen to what she had to say?

Though she knew that, it didn't stop her from hoping he would agree with what she was about to say. She gulped, and finally broke the silence by saying, "The way you knocked Pitch out so easily… Do you think you could teach me?"

He answered with a surprised eyebrow raise.

"I mean, you don't have to, I was just wondering, and you seem like a nice enough person…" Oh god, she was rambling now. Tooth had this bad habit of saying whatever was on her mind when she got nervous, one that she tried very hard to break.

She felt her cheeks heating up when he didn't reply.

After another long and very awkward silence in which Tooth tried her very hardest to look everywhere but at him, his face scrunched up, as if thinking long and hard about it, he broke into a grin.

And those teeth. _Oh, those teeth. _She could feel herself swooning inside. They were as white as freshly fallen snow, and oh-so straight.

"Sure," he replied. "I'll teach you to fight, if you don't rat me out to your dad." It seemed like a good enough deal, since nobody would teach her self-defense.

_A proper lady should spend her days managing the household, being obedient, and only talking when strictly necessary_, she could hear her mother's voice in her head. But Tooth wasn't a proper lady.

So she stuck out her hand, and he shook it.

And this was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. A friendship that would break all the rules, and eventually, turn into something more.

* * *

**Ooooh, getting more interesting now! I love writing their reactions to each other, they're so cute :) (And I like writing about blushing. Could you tell?)**

**Hopefully I didn't sound repetitive in the part about Tooth's dad, I was suffering minor writer's block at the time.**

**My favorite part in this chapter was the last line. I'm so proud of it :D**

**Go vote on my poll about North! Please! I need more votes!**

**Please leave a review, it really makes my day to have even one more review added to the review count!**

**~Chilly, jumping with joy at the EXTRA-LONG chapter I just typed up... 2,000+ words! Woohoo!**

**(Is it just me, or is the review button looking extra beautiful today? Nah, it's probably just me). **

**That was my way of "subtly" hinting at you guys to leave a review! Nah, I love you readers, even if you don't leave reviews, since you guys are the reason I keep writing this story :)**


	5. Laughter

**Oh god. I am SO SORRY for not updating in so long! *Bangs head against the wall***

**You see, I was suffering from **_**severe **_**writer's block, and wasn't able to come up with ideas for **_**days. **_

**Thankfully, after reading SilverEyeShinobi's wonderful fic, **_**Summer of Frost, **_**I was able to get over it and type up this chapter in less than an hour!**

**I'll try to update again tomorrow! Again, I'm really sorry for not updating!**

**Does anyone think I should get someone to draw up a title page for this story? I could draw one myself, but my art skills are just... No comment.**

**Thank you for staying with me, even with the late update!**

**Disclaimer: Why don't I own Rise of the Guardians? Because I'm not awesome enough to create such an awesome movie, that's why.**

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through the window. It was a few days after Jack had agreed to teach the girl, who had told him her name was Toothiana, how to defend herself.

Why he had done it, he couldn't remember, but he liked to think he had thought of the benefits of having the princess indebted to him, but in truth, he hadn't been thinking at all. He had been losing himself in her deep purple eyes, which seemed to constantly change color, and the way they lit up when he agreed to teach her.

Or maybe it was the slight tremor in her voice as she asked him that told him she was scared of him saying no. Whatever the reason was, Jack was kind of regretting his decision right now.

For one thing, it would be difficult to find a place to teach her without getting caught, and if he didn't teach her, she would rat him out to the king. Either way, Jack was now in a difficult position.

So, he was forced to teach the princess how to fight.

He was staying in an old storage room, or more precisely, the basement. The basement was located somewhere in between the winding passages going through the castle, and Jack had tried his best to memorize them.

Though, try as he might, he just couldn't form a mental map of the twisting, labyrinth-like maze of tunnels. So he busied himself with trying to form a plan to steal the painting. After several hours of contemplating many different strategies, nothing that seemed very foolproof came to mind, so Jack gave up.

Pacing, he walked from one end of his surprisingly large room to the other, chewing on his fingernail. His mother had always told him to get rid of the bad habit. He hadn't bothered to try. He remembered his sister, how she had held onto him tightly as his father disowned him, crying out when he pulled away from her and walked out.

A tear slid down his cheek. Why hadn't his family understood why he did what he did? He had been extra careful not to get caught; yet they had still ordered him to leave. No matter. He had a new family now, with people who looked up to him, respected him, and stuck together.

The thought of his old family still caused him pain though. Nothing could stop the dull ache in his gut whenever he thought of them. Flopping onto the pallet he had found in the storeroom and dragged into a corner, he pulled his bag over his head, as if that would block out the memories.

The bag didn't help.

_It's going to be one of those days, _Jack thought. One of those days when, no matter what he did to try and distract himself, he still wouldn't be able to block out painful thoughts of his sister. His group members had learned to stay away from him during these days, not that Jack could blame them for wanting to avoid him. Hell, even he wanted to get away from himself today.

He could feel the corners of his mouth drooping, could feel himself frowning. Jack didn't like moping around; he found it quite useless. Instead, he had tried his best to smile at all times, even if the smile was fake. Nobody needed to see him sad.

His thoughts were interrupted by a series of small taps on the door. _Tap tap. Tap taptap tap. _It was their secret code, one they had established in case someone other than Tooth came into the storeroom. He answered with his own taps.

The door slowly creaked open, and Tooth's head poked into the room, a map in her hand. She waved it in the air in front of his face, grinned, and said, "I've got us a place to train."

* * *

Tooth had spent days looking through maps in the library. She had even sneaked into her father's study to take a look at his own maps. On one occasion, she had very nearly been spotted by a guard, and had had to hide underneath her father's desk. Thankfully, the guard had only spared a cursory glance, and Tooth had been able to get away safely.

With a map in hand, too. She was getting better at sneaking around; had learned to make her footsteps quieter by walking in her stockings, and had learned the best places to hide.

She hadn't seen her suitor since the incident in the hallway. It was a good thing too, for she felt that is she happened to catch him alone, she wouldn't be able to control her anger and would end up in a situation much like the one before.

Hewas the reason she wanted to learn how to defend herself. Pitch had attacked her; she wanted to be able to retaliate if he ever did it again.

_Never again, _she swore. Never again would she allow herself to feel as helpless as she had that day.

Jack was the only one who could teach her. Her mother would never allow it, her father probably wouldn't even let her ask him if she could learn, and she wouldn't bother Sandy with her problems. Maybe Uncle North could help her, but he wasn't in the kingdom right now, and wouldn't be back for at least another 3 months.

Nicholas St. North, the king of a neighboring kingdom. He was like an uncle to her, and every time he visited her, he would bring tales of his kingdom and gifts.

He always listened to her rant about her mother and her studies. He treated Tooth as an equal, and she loved him for it. North ruled the northern kingdom known as Pole. The people there were happy, peaceful, and were always welcoming when Tooth visited. She had made many friends with the people there, much to her mother's chagrin.

Sadly, there had been a war in her beloved uncle's kingdom for a couple of months, and he hadn't been able to reply to her letters. She hoped he was safe and unharmed.

Jack's cold touch shocked her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, you were about to walk into a wall," he indicated the hard stone wall in front of them. Blushing at her clumsiness, she walked faster, towards the exit closest to the gardener's storage shed in the garden. They were still in the tunnels, Tooth holding a torch to light their way.

As they walked, spiders and rats scuttled out of their way. She didn't flinch at the sight of them, like most girls her age did, as she found she didn't really fear the creatures. They were simply misunderstood.

People believed rats spread disease. Tooth had read that contrary to popular belief, it was actually the fleas on the rats that carried sicknesses.

They thought spiders bit people and poisoned them. In reality, they rarely ever attacked a person, and even kept the level of garden pests down.

She had encountered many spiders in her little garden, which she had received from her North for her 10th birthday. She appreciated the beautiful webs they spun, and in the morning their beauty was magnified a hundred times with the morning dew sparkling in the sun, stuck onto the sticky tendrils of glue-like liquid.

Taking a look at the map in her hand, she discovered that they were very close to the exit. Listening for any signs of others, she put a finger to her lips to indicate for Jack to be quiet.

Not that he needed her to tell him that.

When she didn't hear any sounds other then the rhythmic dripping of water coming from pipes, she reached up and pushed up against the trapdoor. It didn't budge an inch.

Jack reached up over her head and added his strength to her efforts. The trapdoor gave.

Not wanting any help, Tooth placed her hands on the edge and hauled herself up, thankful that she was wearing pants. She had stolen them from the servant's laundry room, and they were slightly large for someone of her size. Only about 5'3", she wasn't a very tall person, and the pant legs reached down past her ankles.

She stood up, dusting herself off, as Jack pulled himself up onto the wooden floorboards of the storage shed. Tooth gaped at the ease in which he was able to get up.

Reminding herself to pay attention, she blew out the torch she was carrying and gestured for him to follow her. Sprinting out of the gardener's shed, she rushed into the forest as quickly and as quietly as she could, careful not to be seen by anybody that might have been looking out a window.

When she was certain that they were safely out of view, she slowed to a brisk walk, paying attention to tree roots and things that she could possibly trip over.

After what seemed like hours of walking, but was really only minutes, they arrived at a clearing. Tooth smiled. This clearing was a special place to her, a place where she sometimes came to get away from everything. Nobody would be able to find them here.

Gesturing at the area to Jack, she asked him, "So? What do you think?"

* * *

"It'll work," he replied. Reaching down to touch the ground, he ran his hand through the grass. The soil wasn't too soft, and it would be good for training, as the hard-packed ground would provide a good arena.

The trees provided a barrier against others, and the shade would be good for resting in. All in all, Jack was impressed at Tooth's intelligence, as she had found the perfect place for training.

Which meant she was really serious about learning how to defend herself. She had even worn pants, which he was sure would get her into serious trouble if she was found wearing them.

Not that he cared, mind you. Jack stared at her, at the way she looked as if she was walking on air as she walked around clearing. She stopped, and he looked at where she was staring. It was a small pond, the water perfectly clear, looking inviting in the afternoon heat.

She reached down to scoop up some water, tripping in the process. Jack's arms automatically shot up and wrapped themselves around her waist, pulling her up and keeping her from falling. She gasped as he easily lifted her and placed her down on even ground.

He couldn't help himself; he laughed. Jack doubled over in laughter, clutching at his sides. He needed a good laugh, and somehow he felt better when Tooth started laughing too, after recovering from her moment of shock.

Her laugh made him feel good, with the musical sounds ringing out throughout the clearing. A wave of warmth spread all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes when she smiled at him.

That was all it took. He burst into a fit of laughter again. They laughed, and laughed, and just kept on laughing until their giggles subsided. Jack shot a look at Tooth again, and she met his gaze. She beamed up at him, and they started giggling. Their giggling turned into more laughing, until tears started sliding down their cheeks.

Jack could not, for the life of him, figure out what was so funny, but all he knew was that laughing with Tooth made him feel _good. _And so they spent the rest of the afternoon, Jack laughing while teaching Tooth basic moves, and she herself giggling at her feeble attempts at copying his example.

* * *

Somewhere, far, far, away, in a place high above the clouds, a man smiled to himself as he watched the pair through a mirror.

This man was as old as time, yet looked as young as a man in his mid-forties. He sat in a grand room, fllled with paints, easels, and unfinished sketches.

He stared at his easel beside him, picked up his paintbrush, and began to paint the scene of the two laughing young ones, delighting at the way the strokes seemed to flow out of his brush.

It had been a while since he had last seen two lives so closely intertwined, and he was going to watch over this pair as they slowly grew into their destinies.

* * *

**Hooray! Such a long chapter, hopefully it made up for the really late update…**

**Thanks to everyone who left a review, they're so sweet! I love it when someone takes the time to write a long review, it makes me feel fuzzy inside just thinking about it!**

**Hopefully you guys will continue reading my story, I promise I'll try to update faster in the future!**

**Leave a review, they make me happy and lets me know that my story isn't utterly boring…**

**~Chilly, happily posting this 2,200+ word chapter!**


	6. Family

**H'lo there!**

***Laughs sheepishly* Heheh. I'm SO sorry for not updating in so long, I was wandering around in a daze for days after reading Angelfall…**

**Seriously. That book is wonderful, amazing, and I NEED A SEQUEL RIGHT NOW. Susan Ee, write faster! I highly recommend going to the library and borrowing it, right now. Go on. Do it.**

**Back to the story, now. Really. I hope you guys are still reading, what with the late updates and all, but the good news is, I'm considering starting a new fic! (Any ideas? Requests? Leave a review!)**

**I'm so happy so many people reviewed my story! I read over some of my chapters, and I was like, **_**Holy cow. People are reading this? **_**Yep. I found so many mistakes!**

**I'll just go hide in a corner now…**

**Disclaimer: Do not own.**

* * *

Tooth sprinted down the hall towards her mother's room, where she had been told to go to. Frowning at the way her gown made it difficult to run, she longed for the feel of pants against her legs again.

It had felt so _good_, being able to run as much as she wanted to in the clearing with Jack. They had laughed that day, and she had learned how to throw a punch. (Albeit a slow and clumsy one)

Today was a few days after their first training session. They had spent hours working on her form, and had been forced to return to the castle when it started getting darker. Jack was actually a really fun person, she thought. Tooth still didn't know what had compelled her to laugh along with him.

She blushed, remembering the feel of Jack's hands holding her arms while teaching her how to punch a person in the right place to knock them out. His hands had felt cold against her arms, as she had rolled up her sleeves to make it easier to move around.

Afterwards, she had been covered in dirt and sweat, and had had to take a bath right after returning to her room, so as not to raise suspicion. The following morning, when she woke up with sore muscles, it _almost _made her regret asking Jack to train her.

_Almost. _She smiled, despite the burning in her arms. She had rubbed them, drank herb tea, and gotten Imogen to massage them, hoping to rid herself of the pain, but to no avail. Her arms hung limply at her sides, twitching when she spotted a stray hair on her shoulder.

Her legs hurt just as much. Although she was tempted to spend all day in bed, she had to obey summons from her mother, sore muscles or no. She was moving at a snail's pace, really. What normally would have taken her a few minutes at most had taken her almost half an hour to do.

Had the trip to her mother's room always been this long?

She lost herself to her thoughts as she stiffly put one leg in front of the other, trying her best not to bump into walls. Her sore legs made her walk at an angle, so she had to constantly change directions to avoid hitting things.

Catching herself right before she was about to walk into a wall, she found herself staring at the door to her mother's room. Slowly reaching up to knock, she heard a crashing sound, muted by the thick wooden doors. Then she heard a scream.

* * *

Jack strolled through the marketplace, dressed in his servant's clothes. Stopping at a merchant's stand, he paused to admire the handmade trinkets.

A tall, muscular, man, a bit older than him, approached behind him. He stood beside him, fumbling with his pouch. He reached inside to take out a coin, and Jack's eyes gleamed as he spotted the message inscribed on the man's hand.

_Hollow in the rat's nest._

The Rat's Nest. Their camp, where they all gathered at the end of the day. Everyone except him. He had missed the previous meetings, and Bunny had told him to meet him at the marketplace, at the merchant's booth.

Hollow, as in the woods. He would have to trek through the forest to get to their camp this time. Constantly on the move, the group moved their camp every few days, so Jack knew he had to hurry.

Lightly stepping through the crowd, occasionally forced to lightly push someone out of the way, he made his way towards the city gates. The forest was located just outside the city wall, and he had to get out past the guards.

Thankfully, he was dressed in servant's garb, and had stolen an axe, so it looked like he was going out to get wood. The guards waved him past without sparing him a second glance.

He walked along the beaten dirt path, whistling merrily. He was going home, and couldn't wait for the chance to slap Bunny on the back and tell them all about his adventures in the palace.

He approached the entrance to the Rat's Nest. It was well hidden, he admitted begrudgingly, and even he couldn't have done a better job. The entrance was hidden beside a pile of boulders, through a bush.

Jack poked his head out of the prickly leaves, and found himself face to face with dozens of familiar faces. Everyone stopped what they had been doing and rushed to greet him. As he pushed his way through his group members, he felt his back being slapped multiple times, heard many questions asking him where he had been, and smiled at many people.

"Jack!" Jack turned his head to greet the owner of the voice. A tiny girl rushed up to him and enveloped one of his legs in a hug. "I missed you!" The look of adoration in her eyes was obvious to everyone but Jack.

He laughed at Baby's enthusiastic greeting. Patting her on the head, he said, "I missed you too, Bee." It was a nickname that he had come up with when Baby had gotten stung by a bee a few months ago.

She hated it when he called her that. She was the youngest of the group, at 10 years old. _Far too young to be involved in stealing, _Jack thought. Bee was an orphan, found about a year ago in an abandoned building at the edge of a small village

Her parents had died of a sickness that had spread through her village like a wildfire. She was the only survivor out of her family of 3.

He had felt sorry for her, and had taken her in. He couldn't have just left her there to starve, could he?

Looking at the cute little girl in front of him, he knew he couldn't have left her there. It went against everything and anything his mother had ever taught him.

So, he hefted Bee up onto his shoulders, and ran through the crowd, laughing and jumping as she shrieked with joy. The others laughed at their antics. There were a few younger than Jack in the crowd, and quite a few others older than him, but they all watched as their leader played with the youngest in their troupe.

They all settled in to an evening of laughter and story telling.

* * *

As she cleaned up the broken pieces of the cup her mother had dropped after spotting a rat, she recalled her last encounter with her mother.

"_How could you have just let Pitch follow me out the door after dinner? I thought you were my mother!" She tried to keep her voice steady as she argued with her mother, hours after being assaulted by Pitch. It didn't work. She knew her voice was getting louder and louder, but she didn't care._

_Her mother was going to get an earful for not stopping Pitch from 'escorting' her to the bathroom._

_The queen had her lips pursed as she stared at her daughter. The cold fury in her eyes reminded her so much of Tooth's own, and she couldn't help it. She screamed in frustration, and stomped off._

_Hours after that confrontation, she was still reading by candlelight, burning the midnight oil in the library. "Why doesn't she understand?" she had whispered vehemently, while trying to discern the letters on the page. The candle was burning out, and soon she would have to retire._

_The candle sputtered and died. Hissing a few choice words that would have made her mother's jaw drop to the floor, she collected her things and stalked out the door, shutting it as softly as she could behind her._

_The resounding bang woke up Imogen, who had been sleeping peacefully before being interrupted by a loud sound. Imogen walked towards the source of the sound, unsteady on her legs and still a bit groggy from sleep. "Toothiana? What happened?"_

_The wild look on Tooth's face did nothing to ease her worries._

"_Why don't you come inside, and I'll make you some tea," Imogen spoke softly to her, afraid of angering her even more. She nodded stiffly, and followed Imogen into the old nurse's room._

_She sat herself down on one of the chairs at the table in the corner of the room, where Imogen usually took her meals. Tooth heard the clinking of cups as Imogen approached her with two cups of steaming hot tea. She cupped her hands around it gratefully, and offered a tentative smile to Imogen._

"_So what's bothering you, dear?" Imogen reached across the table and stroked her hand comfortingly. It soothed her._

"_You know I ate with Pitch today?" She nodded. "Well, when I was going to the bathroom, he insisted on following me." The words flowed out of her like a river, as if she had been bottling them up inside of her. Imogen let out a soft sound of disapproval._

"_The worst part was, Mother actually _let _him. She nodded at him when he said he should accompany me." Imogen gave her a searching, curious, look._

"_I'm sure she didn't mean it that way, dear." Rubbing her thumb in slow, comforting, circles on the back of Tooth's hand, she stared into her eyes, searching to get more out of her._

_Tooth's breath hitched as she told Imogen about Pitch attacking her. She left out the part about Jack saving her, instead telling Imogen that she had been saved by a passing servant._

_Imogen's eyes flashed dangerously. "Pitch had better watch out," she threatened, "because he'll be dead by tomorrow if he keeps this up." Tooth laughed nervously at the threat. Imogen was usually calm and loving, so this was a side of her she hadn't seen before._

"_But what about Mother?" she asked._

"_Your mother is very worried about your father, dear. She wants you to get married as soon as possible so he can step down and take a rest. The King's health is deteriorating, my Princess," Imogen whispered to her, still rubbing circles on the back of her hand._

_Tooth shook her head in amazement. Only Imogen could come up with an explanation so real, so convincing. She just couldn't be made at her mother anymore._

Now, sitting in front of her mother, she felt no spark of anger. No urge to yell and scream at her for leaving her with Pitch. _Her mother could not have known that he was going to try to kiss her_, she thought.

Over the past few days, her mother had become very ill. She had been forced to stay in bed, and this was the first time Tooth had seen her for days.

Her mother's usually glowing bronze skin looked sickly green, and she noticed her mother shivering every once in a while, despite the fire blazing in the fireplace heating the room. Her mother looked broken.

They sat there in silence, no words being spoken between the two as Tooth stared into the flames, and her mother stared out the window.

Finally, she heard her mother's raspy voice say her name. "Tooth." She hadn't called her by her nickname since her father had changed.

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone with Pitch that day," her mother spoke slowly, a pause between every word as she worked to take a breath. "I never thought he would assault you."

She nodded at her mother, hoping she knew that she forgave her. She smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile at her sickly mother.

"You've grown so much, Tooth. So much, and I haven't even been paying that much attention. I'm sorry for that, too." Her mother had tears in her eyes, and Tooth couldn't stand it any more. She wrapped her arms around her mother's thin body, and felt her own tears gathering, threatening to leak out.

"Mom," she started. She hadn't called her mother 'mom' since she had turned 10, and her mother cried even more. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

She felt her mother nod against her shoulder, and heard a sniffle. The sound was so ungraceful and so unlike her mother that she laughed. Her mother looked at her with a confused look on her face for a moment, and then she smiled.

They spent the rest of the day reading together and reliving stories from her childhood. Gradually, the sickly look on her mother's face had begun to fade, and within a few days, she was restored to full health.

Daughter and mother, reconciled. The two were like sisters, and sometimes, the daughter became the mother.

What could be more perfect than that?

* * *

**Meh. Don't really like the ending for this chapter, but I really wanted to get a chapter out for this week. Hopefully I didn't disappoint with the late update!**

**Leave a review if you have any ideas for a new story I could write!**

**(Haha! This chapter's, like, 50 words longer than the others!)**

**(::) (::) Cookies for the people who take the time to review my story, it really helps me write faster! (::) (::)**

**~Chilly**


	7. Lilies at Lunch

**Curse you, writer's block. Curse you. *Narrows eyes menacingly***

**I'm really sorry about the über late update! I was swamped with homework, and even after I finished it all, I just couldn't collect my ideas a write out this chapter!**

**Okay. Enough with my excuses. They sound pathetic even to my ears. What really happened is, I procrastinated. Yep. Blame this late chapter on my laziness.**

**I'm currently working on a story called Songbird, (the idea was given to me by a wonderful person named piku!) which will be my next fic. I'll probably post the first chapter sometime next week, or the week after that. That said, I probably won't be able to update any time in the near future, unless some flash of brilliance hits me and I suddenly gain the ability to write out 10 chapters a day… (I wish).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RotG, but I DO own 84 BEE-YU-TAY-FUL reviews! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

Tooth grumbled as her mother brushed her hair, running the comb over and over again through her long brown hair. Her mother had insisted on dressing her up for her next lunch with Pitch, which her mother would be chaperoning, thankfully.

Although they had made up, her mother still wanted her to get married. She was just looking for a better suitor at the moment. If she agreed to meet Pitch a second time, it gave other potential suitors hope that she would also meet them, without flat-out rejecting them again. Her mother was a smarter woman than she gave her credit for, it seemed.

She had also told Tooth that her father seemed relieved when he heard that Tooth had accepted the invitation to lunch, which a little servant boy had delivered. If her father was happy, then Tooth would endure the horrible company without complaint.

She still loved her father, after all.

Lunch at Pitch's castle, she could handle. If he tried to kiss her again, she would at least be able to get away from him, as Jack had taught her how to escape from an enemy at their last lesson.

Pitch was at least 2 heads taller than her, and she knew punching him would be no use. So, she had practiced over and over again how to find points of escape, and how to avoid any attacks.

Hopefully, she wouldn't have to use the tactics she'd learned at her lessons.

Now, as she glided down the majestic stairs to Pitch's dining room, she stopped to consider the best way to approach him again. One does not just _forget _the person who stood idly by while you were knocked out, even though you have invaded their personal space, after all. Would he go crazy, and try to find a way to bring her down?

Unlikely, she thought. Pitch had gone to all the trouble to sending her an invitation, after all. Even while thinking this thought, though, she felt this niggling feeling in the back of her head, one she only got when something unexpected was about to happen. Her mother took notice of her distress, and took her hand in hers comfortingly as she pulled them to a stop.

"I'll be there. He won't dare to do anything if you're not alone," she told her softly. Tooth managed a nod. Just then, she heard the clicking of dress shoes on the hard marble floor. Raising her head, she spotted Pitch himself standing at the bottom of the staircase, holding a bouquet of flowers.

How cheesy, she thought. Did he think she could be bought over by a couple of flowers? She was not a shallow girl, who could be won over by a few sweet words and a gift, although she did have to admit the flowers were quite beautiful.

Her mother took her elbow in her arm, and the two made their way down towards Pitch. He smiled at her, the very picture of innocence. Looking at him, no one would guess that he was the one who had tried to kiss her in the hallway, with his impeccably ironed formal shirt, and his gentlemanly air as he held the door to the dining terrace open for them.

That was how Pitch had gained power and influence, by pretending to be what the people wanted. His acting skills were commendable, to say the least.

Her mother nodded politely when Pitch swept into an elaborate bow, taking her hand in his and kissing it. Tooth refrained from gagging when he did the same to her, trying not to think about the glimpse of his disgusting teeth she had seen earlier. (Albeit with a bit more trouble than her mother).

If Pitch's acting skills were good, her mother's were splendid. She could play the part of the queen who knew nothing of politics, the part of the concerned mother trying her very best to find a suitable suitor, and many other roles. A woman of a thousand faces, she was.

Sandy always said to her, "_Keep your thoughts to yourself, Princess. I can read your face like a book." _Of course, he never said the words out loud, as he could not speak, due to a disease called narcolepsy. After many years of having him as her tutor, though, Tooth had learned to understand him through his sign language, and was able to decipher the complicated messages he signed for her.

Of course, understanding sign language was not at all like understanding people. Never being able to determine what a person was feeling through subtle behaviors, Tooth was only able to discern the emotions of others through their expressions. Then again, it was quite easy for some people to school their faces into a different emotion than what they were feeling.

They sat down at the elegantly set table, Pitch holding their chairs out for them. The ornately decorated silverware sparkled in the bright afternoon sun, a sign of recent polishing. Flowers were arranged delicately in beautiful vases, in the same arrangement as the bouquet Pitch was holding earlier.

Sniffing daintily at the air, Tooth spoke. "Are those lilies I smell?" She rather liked lilies. The beautiful flowers were blooming everywhere in the vast garden, perfectly arranged in neat little patterns. She had trouble agreeing when her mother told Pitch his garden was beautiful.

Pitch nodded his thanks, then snapped his fingers. Servants came in through invisible doors, bearing platter upon platter of decadent foods. Every single dish looked delicious.

When the last plate had been placed on the wide round table, Pitch raised his wineglass and toasted them. "Thank you for accepting my invitation, Toothiana."

Raising her glass, she replied, "It was my pleasure, Sir Pitchiner." The sarcasm was lost to him, and he nodded, satisfied with her response.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tooth could see her mother raise an eyebrow at her act. She, unlike her mother, usually hated lying, and was generally, a straightforward person who preferred speaking blunt truths than fake lies. However, Tooth had not forgotten what Pitch had done, or tried to do to her, and was more than glad to put on an act.

All the better to bring him down later, she thought. If he thought he had her in the palm of his hand, he had another thing coming for him. _The higher you rise, the harder you fall, _she thought to herself, smirking inwardly. She would lead him along, and make her rejection of his courtship all the more humiliating.

Maybe she was getting better at scheming after all, with all those long hours spent with her cunning mother.

Picking up her spoon, she took a small sip of the creamy soup. It tasted _heavenly, _and she had to refrain from picking the whole bowl up and drinking it in large gulps. Slowly dipping her spoon back into the soup, she tuned her mother and Pitch out as they started making small talk.

She hated small talk. A waste of time, as she always thought. Why couldn't people just get to the point? All the topics the two were talking about were talked about at every meal. Frankly, weather was not a point of interest for her, and would not become one any time soon, she hoped.

Soon enough, though, she started hearing her name in the conversation. Now, she listened carefully, curious as to what they were talking about that involved her.

"-likes to read, and is especially interested in the study of medicine." Her mother's face was aglow with pride as she talked about Tooth's lessons and the education she had received since being a child. Tooth had tried her best in those lessons, just to get her father to pay attention to her, and had usually received high praise from her tutors.

"I have a large collection of books on medicine in my library, madam. Perhaps you two might want to pay a visit later today or another time?" Pitch was scheming again, she was sure of it. Apparently, her mother also hadn't missed the tone of his suggestion, as she politely declined.

"I'm very sorry, but we really must be going soon. Tooth has to make preparations regarding a party for one of her friends, and will be dreadfully busy managing the servants decorating the grand hall, so I must decline your kind offer." Tooth snorted quietly. Lies flowed out of her mother's lips as easily as water running in a stream, so unless she had a secret friend who's birthdate was in the middle of spring, she had no idea what her mother was talking about.

Wiping her lips with her napkin, she stood up, and gestured to her mother that she wanted to leave. When her mother stood up with her, she smiled thankfully. Curtsying to Pitch, she spoke softly, "Thank you for inviting me, Sir Pitchiner. The dishes were delightful and the garden was very beautiful."

"It was my pleasure, Princess."

Sweeping up her gown, she and her mother followed Pitch through the doors, stopping once to bid him goodbye once again at the doors to the castle, where their carriage stood waiting. As she lifted her foot to step onto the carriage, Tooth felt a hand touch her shoulder.

Alarmed, she spun around, facing Pitch, who held something in his hand. Pasting on a smile, she waited for him to explain what he was doing.

Holding his hands out to her, he revealed a gleaming diamond necklace in the shape of a lily, one that would have made normal girls die for the chance to own one.

"Please accept this necklace as a token of apology, Princess," Pitch said, unfastening the clip for her to put on. He had put her in a tight spot, the bastard. She could not refuse the necklace, as it was obviously very expensive, making it very impolite if she did.

That scheming _fox. _Reluctantly, she reached out and took the necklace with a fake smile of gratefulness on her face. Taking hold of the clasp, she reached around her neck to put it on, and after a few seconds of fumbling, she gave a sigh of frustration. At the moment, Tooth wanted nothing more than to be on her way, away from Pitch.

Apparently, her mother felt the same. She held out a small leather pouch, allowing Tooth to slip the necklace in. Curtsying once again, she thanked Pitch for the gift and climbed into the carriage without another word.

**Sorry for the short chapter, I couldn't think of anything to write! Also, I really don't know why I forgot to write in Jack's POV, but whatever. I think this chapter turned out quite nicely, all in all.**

**Please excuse my rusty writing, I haven't had the time to write in a while. I typed up the first 3 paragraphs of this story weeks ago, and finished the rest really quick just now. I think I've made a couple of grammar mistakes in my haste in getting this chapter out ASAP, so I hope you don't mind.**

**Again, I'm sorry for the late update, and I hope you'll keep on following Jack and Tooth's story!**

**As always, please review!**


	8. Stirrings

***Pops up in front of you* BOO!**

**That's right, guys. I'm still ALIVE! It's a freaking miracle, right?**

**Notice anything new? Anything? That's right, Stealing a Princess has a COVER now. All thanks to piku! My sincerest apologies to those of you who wanted me to update often; I'll try to update maybe once a week after my tests are over.**

**Anywho, This chapter kind of crept up on me. One minute, I was totally minding my own business, reading on my phone, and then, BAM. I was run over by the plot bunny truck!**

**Can you believe this story has over a hundred reviews already? Thanks so much for the encouragement and the support, I wouldn't be able to write if it weren't for you guys. Group hug! **

**I feel the need to ask you guys: Are you looking forward to Jack/Tooth fluff in this story? I know I am! I hope this story can be over 20 chapters long, so I'll be really grateful to you if you stick with me till the end!**

**On another note: Holy cow, my author's notes are getting longer. -_-**

**Disclaimer: RotG doesn't belong to me.**

* * *

The moment Jack had woken up this morning, he had felt a change in the air. Something was going to happen today, he was sure of it. Being more of a night owl, he had had to drag himself out of bed to change into his servant's clothes. The reason he still wore the scratchy, coarse, wool was because he was still looking for the painting throughout the castle.

So far, there had been no sign of the painting, even with his constant searching of the castle, peeking into every nook and cranny he could find. He was getting frustrated, and had started to wonder if the painting was worth all his troubles.

Staying crammed in a tiny room for most of the day was not one of Jack's favorite things to do, you see. He preferred to be running wild in the woods, or even shoving his way through a thick crowd of people in the city. Anything was better than staying in the storeroom for hours on end, with nothing to do but count the cracks in the walls and the ceiling.

He needed to do something, or he would go mad. With that thought in mind, he set out to pay a visit to the kitchen in search of a snack. Walking through the hallways, Jack noticed the many portraits of the king and his family.

The king, he decided, looked like a very strict father. He had a severe face, and Jack could see the resemblance between Tooth and the king. They both had the same straight nose, and the shapes of their faces were quite similar, too. In the paintings he passed, the king always wore a serious expression.

Jack could almost feel his eyes following him through the hallways, as if the paintings could sense that he didn't belong in the castle.

Despite the serious look the king had about him, the queen seemed like a very pleasant woman in the paintings he saw of her, which were few and far in between. With long black hair, she was depicted as a slim, petite, smiling woman.

Her eyes were striking, which explained why he felt like Tooth could see right through him whenever he caught her staring at him.

As he passed by the door to the library, Jack paused to look inside. He had to admit, he was curious about what it was like in there. Poking his head in, he started when he found a stout old man, sitting at a table surrounded by piles of books, staring at him.

"Um, I was… Uh… looking for a… rag I dropped, have you seen it?" He cringed when he heard his own voice. Mentally berating himself for the unconvincing excuse, he tried to look as if he was looking around at the chairs, tables, and stacks of books around the room.

The man snorted, obviously thinking the same. Deciding he had better make a run for it before the man questioned his _real _reason for entering the library, Jack hastily uttered a goodbye and retreated out the door before the man could say a word.

Had he been looking, he would have seen the man, shoulders shaking with barely suppressed laughter, wave his hand goodbye at his retreating figure.

* * *

Tooth could feel the smooth leather of the pouch containing the necklace bouncing against the hollow of her neck as she hurried towards the library. She wanted to hide it in there, where Imogen couldn't find it and force her to wear it because it 'went beautifully with her eyes' and was 'simply gorgeous'.

Cursing Imogen's sharp eyes, she ducked into a hallway when she heard her name being called. Trying her best not to look like she was running away from her nurse, she quickly opened the door and rushed into the library.

Sandy's head poked up from where he was reading and he gave her a wave; one she returned half-heartedly as she panted, trying to catch her breath. Sensing her distress, Sandy hurried to help her, patting her back comfortingly.

"I'm fine," she told him, "Just… Running from Imogen." Sandy nodded his sympathy, as he had known the old woman for years now, and knew she could be a bit overbearing at times. He didn't ask her why she was running-she would tell him when she wanted to.

She took a seat next to Sandy as he settled back into his soft armchair, catching a glimpse of the complicated words in the book he had been reading. He mimed his question, and she responded with a shrug.

'What did you do yesterday?' The old mans' eyes glinted; she knew he already knew what she did yesterday.

She ended up telling him anyways, just to get the anger at Pitch out of her system.

"-_dare _he act as if he didn't attack me! Inviting me to his castle, acting the perfect gentleman, does he think doing all that will make me forgive him?" She heard her voice gradually get louder as she fought to calm her rising temper. After all, Sandy hated it when she lost control of herself.

So she took deep breaths, eventually calming down enough to tell Sandy, "I can't take it anymore." She buried her head in her hands.

Her tutor's eyes conveyed his sympathy, and he grasped her hand reassuringly. Pulling out a book from his stack, he held it in front of her until she looked up at him. Once she saw the cover, her face broke into a wide grin, and her mood quickly changed.

Snatching the book from his fingers, she picked it up and flipped through _Teeth: A Journal,_ written by Sandy's cousin twice-removed, Ria.

Squealing, she wrapped Sandy in a fierce hug, thanking him over and over and over for the gift. She had wanted to read the book ever since she heard about Ria, who was a celebrated dentist.

Setting him down from her bone-crushing hug, she planted a kiss on Sandy's cheek and sat back down in the chair, preparing for hours of reading.

Halfway through the first chapter, which was on the straightening of crooked teeth, Sandy interrupted her. 'There was a boy who came in today,' he signed.

Raising an eyebrow in disinterest, she nodded to acknowledge she heard and resumed reading. A sentence later, she felt Sandy tap her elbow and she looked up, irritated.

'He was a servant boy,' he signed, 'golden hair. When I asked him what he was doing in here, told me he was looking for his rag while stuttering.' Sandy smiled at Tooth, amused, recalling the mysterious servant boy's reaction. Tooth didn't notice his good humor as she was staring longingly at her book.

"Oh?" She picked up her book again, ready to continue reading.

'He left rather quickly; I didn't even get to give him the handkerchief I found under the table.' He showed her the handkerchief-more like a rag, really; and placed it in her hand.

"So you want me to give it to this boy." When Sandy nodded, Tooth sighed in resignation, set down her book with a dull _thud, _and waved goodbye to Sandy while taking quick, small, steps out the door.

The kitchen was where most servants would be at this time of day, she thought, while peeking around the corner, checking to see if Imogen was still looking for her. When she saw she wasn't, Tooth made her way to the kitchen, checking every so often to see if Imogen had seen her.

As she approached the entrance to the busy, bustling, kitchen, she wiped her damp forehead as she felt the heat of the ovens against her skin.

"Princess? What are you doing here?" Ky, the head chef for her family greeted her. They knew each other well, from Tooth's frequent visits to the kitchen for midnight snacks. He held a knife in one hand and a tray of pastries in the other.

Hand snaking forward to grab one, Tooth answered, "Sandy asked me to return the handkerchief to a boy who said he dropped one in the library."

Ky gave a nod, and pointed to a stack of crates, where a group of servants were gathered around in a circle, laughing and eating.

Dodging servants wielding platters of food and drinks, Tooth tried not to trip over the bags and crates of ingredients place disorderly around the kitchen. The smell of a variety of spices was overpowering in this section of the kitchen, and she covered her nose with her sleeve, masking the strong scent of cloves, coriander, and black peppers with the smell of freshly laundered clothes.

They were going to eat curry tonight, judging by the smells wafting through the fabric to greet her nose. Instantly cheery at the thought of eating her favorite food for dinner, she tried to pinpoint the group of servants again as she was swept into a hug by Oma, Ky's wife.

She felt a bag of delicately iced cookies being dropped into her hand, the wrapping decorated with lace and ribbon.

Smiling and thanking Oma for the cookies, she tried to push her way through the mass of servants, accidently elbowing a little boy in the face, and stopping to apologize profusely as the boy pinched his bleeding nose with his fingers.

She pulled out her own handkerchief, offering it to him as her eyes swept the crowd again for the circle of servants, lighting up when she spotted them, still chatting and laughing at the stack of crates in the corner. Apologizing once again to the boy and leaving him with a cookie, once again she diver into the crowd, keeping her eye on a golden-haired boy with his back to her.

His hair was an unnatural shade of gold, now that she thought about it. There was only one person in the entire castle with hair that unlikely gold colored hair, and his real hair color wasn't even the beautiful gold color of the wig he wore.

The sound of a high-pitched giggle snapped her out of her thoughts. Turning her head to find the source of that sound, Tooth discovered that it had come from one of the many maids surround Jack, giggling and batting their eyelashes at him.

She cringed. Tooth couldn't imagine herself flirting so plainly and shamelessly with _anyone, _and the maids were doing nothing by disgracing themselves.

Jack laughed and slapped the back of one of the other male servants, one she had seen before. She couldn't quite place his face, but she did remember seeing him pouring wine for her parents last week, and the week before that.

The other servants seemed to be laughing along with Jack, seeming to not notice anything out of the ordinary with him. He seemed not to notice her standing behind him; his attention was on a pretty girl with luscious brown hair and bright green eyes who had draped herself on his arm.

She couldn't see his face from where she was standing, but she was sure he was appreciating the attention from the pretty maid. Tooth felt a tug in her stomach as she watched the girl bat her eyelashes and say something that made Jack and the others laugh uproariously.

There was a mysterious and unpleasant feeling in her stomach as she continued watching the group interact like long-time friends; she had never had such close bonds with people her own age, being kept away from other kids since being a child. Although she shared a good relationship with the servants of the castle, some of them were more like family, like parents and aunts and uncles than friends. Jack was probably the closest thing she could call a friend at the moment.

Realizing that made her feel sad, that she had no friends to share her secrets with; no friends to spend her afternoons laughing and chatting with; no friends to call sisters.

Turning her attention back to the group, who were passing around a bowl of bread, taking one each and dunking it into their soups, she observed them for a while; this picture of friendship and camaraderie that only resulted after a hard day's work together.

As she watched the girls cluster around other boys, the more handsome ones surrounded by a larger number of maids, she noticed the largest group was still surrounding Jack. Fair enough. Jack was quite handsome; with his glorious smile, gorgeous teeth, and the confident air about him, who wouldn't want to know him?

Her hands curled into fists; she could feel anger eating away at her insides, jealousy bubbling in the pit of her stomach. But why did she feel angry and jealous? Was it because she wanted close bonds like that? Or did it have something to do with the way the beautiful girl eyed Jack possessively as she moved closer to him? If it was the latter, she decided she had no right to feel jealous because of that. Jack was not hers, anymore than he was theirs.

So why did she feel _jealous, _of all things?

* * *

**(A/N: To make it up to you guys for the late update, I'm extending this chapter to include Jack's POV)**

Jack laughed as the girl batted her long eyelashes at him. She was obviously attracted to him; yet he couldn't help noticing how she draped herself so casually along his arm, how she moved closer to him every time he tried to move away.

She was pretty enough, he thought, yet her eyes had a dull quality to them, so unlike the bright, piercing, gaze of Tooth. Why did immediately compare this girl to _Tooth_? How come he missed the way she smiled at him when she successfully completed a set of punches he had laid out for her?

Already he was thinking of what he would teach her next time. He would teach her how to feint and throw a punch at a man's most vulnerable place, a move that would surely come in handy in the future.

"Hey John! Are you finished with that butter yet?" The words had barely left his lips when he stopped short, squinting at a corner of where he thought he had saw a pair of violet purple eyes trained on him. Shrugging it off, he returned to his meal, dipping the hard, dry, bread into the rich, creamy soup. Ignoring the way the girl stared at him, he focused on John and Brendan, who were fighting over the pint of beer one of the older men had brought.

Letting his thoughts drift, he relaxed and leaned his back against one of the wooden crates, bringing his knee up and resting one of his arms on it, holding his bread. Reaching for his glass of water, he let his hand drop when he saw her.

A flash of brilliant pink, the scent of lilies, and there she was.

Eyes glinting, she dropped a handkerchief into his lap, one he recognized as the one from the library. Eyes widening in recognition, he raised his head to meet her eyes, which he found looking away from him.

"Sandy told me to give this to you. He said you dropped it in the library." Tooth's words were flat and emotionless, nothing like her usual, almost musical voice. Turning on her toe, she left quickly. Only then did he notice the other servants staring at him with wide eyes; probably wondering what he had done to anger their precious princess.

Jack was confused, though he didn't show it, and as he calmly resumed eating, the other servants continued talking, forgetting about the sudden appearance of the princess, and the strange behavior she had exhibited in front of one of their own?

What had he done to anger her, to make the usually happy and free spirit so withdrawn? Why did she just leave like that, not even bothering to say goodbye?

* * *

**Phew! Finally done! This chapter is my baby; You guys have no idea how long I spent, wondering what I was going to do with the plot for this chapter. And it's exactly 3124 words, people! I call that an achievement! Granted, the author's notes probably took up at least 3 times more words than they do in my usual chapters, but who's counting?**

**Hopefully this chapter made up for the kind of lame-ish Chapter 7, I tried my best with this one! Ooooh! Tooth is **_**jeeeeeeeaaaalllllooouuusssss s!**_** Haha, this chapter was too fun to write.**

**Just curious, but how old do you guys think I am? A lot of people I know say I act older than I look… And my brother calls me old. -_- **

**Just read the Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfield, it was… AWESOME. The drawings were breathtaking, the action was nonstop, and the 2 main characters… They're so cuuuute :) For those of you who haven't read it, GO READ IT NOW. Seriously, you're missing out. Now excuse me while I go re-read the series. *Whips out a copy of Goliath, flips to the last chapter, and proceeds to read it over and over* **

**~Chilly, still grinning gleefully at the new cover… Again, thanks to piku.**


	9. Prophetic Meeting

**Y'all still with me here? Mkay. Just checking. I was wondering… Should I put Songbird on hold 'till I can finish this fic? I mean, I can't seem to think of anything to write for chapter 2, even though it's been on my to-do list for like, 3 weeks…**

**Regarding the chapter… **

**I wanted to write fluff. Fluff so sweet, you guys would get cavities. **

**BUT. **

**BUT. **

**BUT. **

**Fluff is harder to write than it looks! (There was also the fact that Tooth and Jack haven't gotten together yet, and I don't plan on getting them to proclaim their undying love for each other until, like, the 15****th ****– 20****th**** chapter… "The tears of my readers keep me young." –Scott Westerfield. Yes, I love to tease you guys :) Although I can never seem to make good on my promises, so… this chapter contains no fluff, sadly. It's more of a filler, so bear with me, please.)**

**Btw, props to likhitata for reminding me to include Jamie. No, I totally _did not _forget about him! I had him... appearing somewhere... in my notes... probably. But you didn't hear that from me.**

**Disclaimer: Characters are not mine.**

* * *

The door clicked shut with a soft _click. _Tooth slid to the ground tiredly, shaking her head to clear through the mess of thoughts rolling around in there. Try as she might, she could not get the image of Jack and that girl out of her head. Whenever her head conjured up thoughts of what she should be doing, they were quickly banished, as everything she saw reminded her of Jack and _that girl._

The brown of her dresser reminded her of the girl's long brown hair. The blue of her blankets and pillows reminded her of the blue of Jack's normal clothes. Everywhere she looked, she saw _something _that brought back the image of the brunette maid, whom she now remembered as Lavinia, **(A/N: Hunger Games, anyone? Don't judge me; the name fits perfectly, in my mind!) **her chest pressed shamelessly against Jack's arm.

True, she hadn't _exactly _seen Jack's face and his reaction to Lavinia's advances, but he was a _male, _for god's sakes! What male wouldn't appreciate Lavinia's company, much less refuse it?

And to top it all off, Tooth couldn't figure out _why on Earth _she felt so jealous of them! Tooth hated not being able to figure out the jumbled up feelings in her head, not being able to tell jealousy apart from anger and sadness and betrayal. Fuming silently, she started pacing around the room, steps gradually rising in volume, until she threw herself onto her bed and screamed into her soft goose-down pillows.

* * *

Jamie watched his new friend Jack sit in the corner with a faraway look on his face. After the sudden arrival and departure of the princess, everyone had finished their meals and trickled away to fulfill their tasks, all except Jack, Jamie, and a few other servants who had already completed their chores for the day.

He wanted to go over to Jack, to ask about what he had done to anger the usually bubbly and cheerful princess. Yet he watched silently, spoon scraping the wooden bottom of his empty bowl, observing the way Jack gazed at everything with a confused look on his face.

Jack, who normally exuded confidence, leadership, and friendliness, was silent as he pondered, presumably about princess Toothiana. The princess, who had been so kind to him before, was not one to get angry over small things. She payed attention to all the servants; including Jamie, who was usually ignored, being one of the youngest.

The princess insisted that everyone call her Tooth, and treated everyone like family, despite them being servants and her being of royal blood. They all adored her, save for a few of them who couldn't stand the royal family.

Today, Tooth had left without even saying hello to Jamie. Usually, she would have stopped to chat with them, maybe catch up on how they and their families were doing. It hurt him to think about the hurt look in her eyes, the anger hidden behind her perfectly emotionless mask.

Sighing, Jamie made his way over to his friend, hoping to discover the reason for Tooth's anger. Jack made no sign of hearing his approach, even as Jamie sat down beside him, stealing a concerned glance at the dejected man not three feet away from him.

Clearing his throat, Jamie waited for Jack to notice him.

He was rewarded with a weary look from Jack as he turned to find the source of the noise. Jamie watched as Jack's eyes seemed to clear; turning from a dull, bleak-looking brown to brown a shade closer to his usual, lively eye color as his friend recognized his face.

Now, for Jamie to get Jack to explain what exactly happened, he would have to put to use all his skill and cunning to not seem too obvious or curious. He ran through a list of things he could say to get Jack talking; none of them seemed very likely to work. Sitting there for too long without saying anything was becoming awkward, so…

"What was that all about?" Jamie cringed as the question slipped out of his guilty mouth without the consent of his brain. It wasn't the best way to ask; Jack was probably going to ignore him like all the other people who asked him about the princess after she left.

So of course, he thought Jack would just withdraw back into his own little world that seemed to encompass only him and the crate of bottles he was sitting on. Preparing himself to leave, a quiet goodbye already on the tip of his tongue, Jack surprised Jamie when he spoke.

"Nothing you'd want to know about, Jamie." Jack's mouth formed a wry smirk; similar to the one he usually wore around others. Jamie was sure Jack didn't realize he had been so out of it.

All because of Tooth. But what did Jack and Tooth have to do with each other?

"Sure I want to know," Jamie crossed his legs at the ankles, preparing to wait for a long time for Jack to answer him.

Jack surprised him yet again by sighing and giving in, if only a little bit. "She's mad at me." He sighed, stating the obvious. Jamie patiently waited for him to continue.

"I don't know what I did; only that she's mad at me for some reason." Jamie remembered Tooth's appearance. Jack couldn't have done anything terrible to get her so riled up, could he have?

Thinking back on what had happened, Jamie remembered everyone laughing and eating, just doing what they usually did. Jamie had introduced everyone to Jack, and they had quickly accepted him into their group. Especially some of the girls, Jamie thought dryly. Lavinia in particular. She had been flirting with Jack, Jack himself being oblivious, when Tooth had stormed in like a hurricane and dropped a handkerchief onto his lap.

The handkerchief that Jamie knew for certain he had seen on Lord Sandy, Tooth's tutor more than once.

Realization dawned on him then. Mouth widening into a grin, he patted Jack on the back, triumphant after solving the mystery.

Princess Tooth was _jealous, _and Jack didn't seem to realize it.

* * *

Sandy stood in a secret room in the library, waiting for the moon to shine on the luminescent symbols drawn on the wooden floorboards. Waiting patiently, he stared at the symbols of the language of the Man In the Moon as the dust that had been disturbed when he had entered drifted down slowly around him.

He had been waiting for more than an hour already. His candle was burning low, thought Sandy didn't mind as he sat there for the monthly meeting with the Man. The Man was an old friend of his, really. They communicated through the symbols in this secret room, and Sandy looked forward to their meetings.

As his candle's flame went out with a sputter, Sandy prepared himself to wait in the darkness; he had even brought a blanket to sit on, for his old bones could not stand the sitting on the hard floors. He silently prayed for the Man to send him a message as he usually did, and was not disappointed when a beam of moonlight fell on the symbols through the small window at the side wall.

The moon was full tonight, meaning the images were brighter and clearer than the usual ones. Sandy waited for the symbols to form words as they usually did; but tonight, they drifted up from the floor like the dust around him, the symbols that spelt: _Follow. _

So Sandy did just that. He followed.

He trailed behind the glowing symbols, careful to watch for any others; but the castle was quiet, save for the soft snores that could be heard through the doors of some of the rooms. Passing the library, he saw that the scattered letters were drifting towards the King's painting room, the King's pride and joy.

He padded softly towards the open door; treading as quietly as his old bones could allow him to. Odd that the door should be accidently left open the day the Man and his letters lead him there.

As he entered, he recognized the painting the letters were clustered around. They seemed to float there; waiting for him to slowly walk over to the largest painting.

It was the Painting of Prophecy. The painting that had been mysteriously delivered to the king the day the princess had been born, which depicted a queen and her lover among a crowd of subjects.

Sandy knew, although many people did not, that the queen in the painting was the princess. The man pictured to be holding her hand seemed familiar to Sandy, though he quickly brushed the thought away.

There was nobody in the kingdom that resembled the man in the painting. The King had sent out search parties the moment the princess had reached a marriageable age to find him. They had come back to the castle with no one, which resulted in the princess's unfortunate betrothal to Lord Pitchiner Black.

Ah, that man. Sandy hated Lord Pitchiner with a passion. They had a history, you see, and it was not a pleasant one. Not at all, he recalled with a smirk.

It had been years ago. Many years ago. When Sandy had been trustful of everything, not questioning anybody. He had had such an optimistic view of the world back then; Sandy tried not to think about everything that had happened because of his naïveté.

He remembered taking Pitch in as a student. Pitch had been young back then; power-hungry, yet good at hiding it. Sandy had believed in him. He had taught Pitch all he knew, trusted him with _everything, _treated him as his own _son_, yet Pitch had come back to ultimately stab him in the back.

His closest friends were gone; exiled because of him. Pitch had done everything in his power to advance through the ranks, mercilessly cutting down anyone who tried to stop him on his path to power. Through connections he had gained through Sandy himself, he had placed himself at the ear of the King; whispering false lies in his ear and manipulating the King into exiling anyone who opposed him.

It was his fault the princess was to be married to him in less than half a year; He knew that. He had tried everything he could have to get the King to refuse the proposal. Yet Pitch had gotten his way in the end. Sandy would have to watch the princess being married off to a cruel and power-hungry man, and his heart was already aching at the thought.

Pitch would be a terrible king. He was not the destined one; the man in the painting with the princess. He bore no resemblance to the brown-haired man. Yet prophecies could be reversed. Sandy himself had seen it happen, many years ago.

So as he peered closely at the man in the painting, something inside his mind clicked. He felt like he had _seen _the man, thought it had to have been impossible. A trick of the light. Shrugging the feeling of familiarity off, he stepped back, only to catch the briefest glimpse of warm, gold-brown eyes staring at him through the painting.

Eyes he had glanced at only this afternoon.

* * *

The Man smiled, glad that his old friend had gotten the message. He watched as the old man's eyes widened in recognition; chuckled as Sandy, the princess's tutor, sank to the ground in disbelief.

The two were now connected; he could faintly glimpse the thin, glowing, red thread connecting the two, winding through secret passageways and hallways. The red thread nobody could see without knowing it was there.

Smiling faintly, he resumed painting his next greatest work. He used warm colors; painting a picture that seemed to radiate soft sunlight. The Man dipped his brush into a vibrant maroon color, painting the outline of the bed.

He could picture the painting in his head, much like the other prophetic paintings he had, hanging around his painting room. He would send it down when he had finished; this was one only meant for his old friend. The painting would be finished by their next meeting, though he thought it best to send it down later, after the events he had prophesized had unfolded.

Sometime soon, he would ask his trusted assistant to bring it down to Earth. A painting of a woman and a man, gazing lovingly at a child in the woman's arms.

* * *

**I have a feeling my foreshadowing is a bit obvious. If it is, whatever. Nothing I can do now, because this chapter was physically **_**painful **_**to write. (Except for the Jamie part. I love Jamie). It's so… **_**filler-y. **_**Oh well.**

**At least the wait was only like, a week and a few days instead of two weeks! **

**I'm aware that this chapter probably isn't my best, so feel free to leave a review telling me how to improve it.**

**~Chilly, confined to her bed because she hurt her knee**


	10. History

**RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS ALL AROUND, EVERYBODY! I can't believe my story has over 12 000 views now! *Wipes away tear* Thanks to ALL of you, my wonderful readers! And 140 reviews? Huzzah!**

**I'll keep this chapter's author's note short this time. I know right? Chilly, keeping her author's note short? Unheard of! Whatever. I don't feel like boring you guys this time. Happy Easter!**

**Disclaimer: RotG is, once again, not mine.**

* * *

She flipped the page, sighing in disappointment upon finding no more to read. Brushing a stray curl away from her face, she leaned back in her comfortable chair, stretching her arms above her head. The rustle of fabric against skin made her raise her head to see Imogen, standing in front of her with her arms crossed.

She wore a determined expression on her face. Tooth silently wondered what Imogen could possibly want with her when she had specifically asked her not to disturb her reading.

"King North has arrived." The disdain was obvious in her voice. Imogen didn't get along well with North, as Tooth was sure she had yet to forgive him about the time Tooth had convinced North to bring her out to the market. That was a long time ago.

She recalled that day fondly, remembering getting lost in the throng of strangers tripping over somebody's wares, and getting scolded thoroughly by her mother after she had been found happily chatting with a jewel merchant, who had found her and offered her a snack.

Granted, the food could have been poisoned, which was one of the things her mother had scolded her for, but the food hadn't been, and she had had fun.

Tooth remembered Uncle North, a giant of a man in his own right, being ferociously berated by her mother, who, despite being almost half his size, still managed to make him look chastised and remorseful.

_Uncle North! _She sprinted through the halls, clutching her skirts in an attempt to keep from tripping. She flung open the doors to the dining hall and launched herself at the big man, making him taking a step back.

North chuckled at her enthusiastic greeting, squeezing her in return. Pulling back from their embrace, North held Tooth at arm's length as if inspecting her.

"You've grown, Little Bird," he said in his jovial, rumbling tone. North's words were spoken in the accent of his home country, and due to his frequent visits, Tooth had learned to understand North's way of speaking, though others did not.

Seeing him, unharmed from the war made her smile even wider as she hopped down and wrapped her arms around his waist. She could feel the warm fur lining of North's favorite red coat against her cheek as she told him about her day and how Sandy and Imogen were doing.

Sandy and North were old friends. They had met a long time ago, before Tooth had been born and North had had to take over his kingdom. They had been teenagers, she had been told, and North had been visiting their kingdom in the place of his father. Sandy had told her of their first meeting, where he had accidently dropped a book on North's boot. 'It had been one of those old, thick, tomes, too!' Sandy had laughed merrily and soundlessly while telling her about their friendship.

Tooth remembered first meeting North. When she had first been introduced to him, she had been afraid of him and his height. "You were a wee little duckling back then, Little Bird! Only up to my knee, you were!" Uncle North had told her after she had gotten more comfortable around him. It had taken her a while to, though now she knew him as a kind, grandfatherly man who loved his subjects and treated everyone with respect.

There was something about North that drew people to him. The three of them had spent many a day laughing and drinking tea in the library, telling jokes and out riding in the woods. He had a great sense of humor, although Tooth didn't understand his particular sense of humor very well.

Smiling happily, she took one of North's large hands, callused from years of sword fighting in both of hers and dragged him to the library, laughing as he stumbled on the thick woolen carpet.

* * *

North chuckled jovially as he relived past times with Sandy, his old friend. They both laughed as he retold the story of the day he had finally gotten Tooth to tell him her name.

_The sky was weeping. Large droplets of water splashed on North's favorite red cap; the one he had received from his father years ago, as he sat upon his mount. His people did not ride horses, as most people did. Rather, they had learned to tame the reindeer that ran wild in their vast forests._

_The rhythmic clip-clop of the reindeer's hooves on the cobblestones harmonized with the pitter-patter of raindrops into puddles, creating a song of sorts. Thunder boomed in the distance, startling his stag. He made a sound with his tongue and tugged lightly on the reins to calm it down._

_Allowing himself time for a break, he looked behind him to spot his guards, who formed a circle around him as he approached the castle at a slower pace. They rode in silence, as nobody had much to say due to the dreary mood instilled upon everyone with the arrival of the storm._

"_Presenting King North of the Northlands!" Trumpets heralded his arrival. Even after all these years, he had yet to get used to people calling him King instead of Prince. The King would always be his father, in his mind._

_The grief had not faded, even so many years after his father's death, though it had faded to a dull ache in his chest that disappeared at times, when he was happy. It had been bad, at first, after his father had died of a long, hard battle with his illness. He had been consumed with grief, locking himself up in his room, ignoring his duties as the next King._

_His mother had snapped him out of it. She had burst into the room after his 3__rd__ week of mourning and told him to man up and take over the kingdom, as that was what his father would have wanted. She had been a strong woman, his mother. She had died of old age a few years after his father._

_Bringing himself out of his thoughts, he stopped and waited for the drawbridge to open, raising his hand to signal for his guards to do the same. He had come to meet his old friend Sandy this time, and his little student, the Princess under the guise of a political visit._

_As he crossed the bridge, he spotted Sandy waving from inside the castle, a cloak drawn around his shoulders to fend against the winter cold. The Princess hid behind the stout old tutor, tiny face peeking out from behind him. She did not yet trust me, North thought. It was probably due to his large size; most people thought him to be a giant. He likely seemed even taller to a small child._

_Dismounting, he handed his reins to one of his guards, murmuring a thank you, and walked over to his old friend, quickly squeezing his frail hands with one of his. As they entered the palace, they caught up on how they were doing; what had happened recently in their respective countries._

_North told Sandy of the recent Winter Festival of his kingdom, one the Northlands were famous for. Sandy told North about one of the books he had written. Rather, he signed out his words, as Sandy did not speak._

_Princess Tooth trailed behind quietly, listening to their conversation and holding onto Sandy's hand. North greeted her quietly; he suspected she was afraid of his loud, booming voice. She nodded shyly, murmuring a quick 'hello, King North' and ducking her head down._

_He returned back to his conversation with Sandy, disappointed that the Princess still did not trust him. He wanted her to. He loved children, though he and his wife had none of their own. North knew that any attempts he made to connect with the Princess would come to naught; Sandy had told him of her shyness around strangers and people she did not trust._

_Of course, anyone would have trust issues after being nearly assassinated._

_Walking through the library doors, Sandy eagerly gestured for Tooth to fetch the book he had written, which she did so, scampering off to a ladder in the corner and climbing nimbly to the top to fetch the thick book, which was perched precariously at the edge of the shelf._

_North eyed the Princess nervously. Stepping forward, he prepared himself to catch her, should she fall from the ladder._

_The Princess looked like a bird, leaning forward on her toes to reach for the book. Her dress billowed out from her waist, giving the illusion of tail feathers, and the colorful feather in her hair added to the illusion._

_Sandy stood behind him, face showing signs of worry. As North reached down to console the old man, he heard the Princess give a small shriek of surprise as her foot slipped from the rung._

_Racing forward, North let out a small 'oomf' as the Princess landed securely in his arms, book clutched tightly in her small hands. Her eyes shone with tears, and North quickly encased her in a hug, patting her back and smoothing her hair comfortingly._

_Sandy scurried forward, wrapping her in his arms too. They stood their, North kneeling on the ground, Sandy standing, Tooth in the middle as she wept, the sounds of her crying quieting after a while. Sandy carefully pried the book out of her hands; North hadn't realized she had still been holding it._

_He released her slowly, glancing at her face to check if she was all right. He was surprised to find her smiling, she gave him a peck on the cheek and threw her arms around his neck, saying 'thank you' over and over again._

_At first, he was frozen, shocked by the gesture. Then, he relaxed, hugging her again, grinning widely as he saw again the feather in her hair. "You're welcome, Little Bird."_

Sandy had called him over this time not to catch up on how he was doing, but to tell him something important. Something involving The Man In the Moon. He guessed that it probably had something to do with Tooth, by the way Sandy's usually neat handwriting had been messy in his letter to him. Sandy would do anything for Tooth, and North would to.

So he waited until Tooth had gone to bed and he had payed visits to the appropriate people to keep up the guise of a political visit. Then, he crept quietly to the library, and Sandy told him everything.

* * *

**Short chapter, right? Sorry, I really wanted to update today. Well, I know last time I said last chapter wasn't very good, but you guys assured me that is wasn't. Thanks, you guys! I'm not really a fan of this chapter, but… It'll do for now. I wanted to write up a chapter for Songbird too, but this one took me longer than I thought it would :(**

**Happy Easter!**

******Edit 4/3/13: I'll be taking a break from fanfiction for around a month or so. It's just that I just got assigned a HUGE project, and I'm trying to boost my grade, so... I'll actually be NOT PROCRASTINATING THIS TIME! *Cue amazed and scandalized gasps* Sooooooo... I'm REALLY sorry to the people who are anticipating the next chapter for SaP and Songbird, though I may (probably will, actually) post a chapter if I get too fed up with my research... Hopefully I'll be able to get a good grade on this project... Wish me luck, guys.**

**~Chilly**


	11. Poison

**Well, I guess I just couldn't stay away from you guys :)**

**Heh, I really should be putting the finishing touches on my project right now, but… That can wait. **

**Not really, but my teacher doesn't know that.**

**What do you guys think about the story so far? I need some feedback. (Am I boring you guys with the pace? Do you think I should elaborate on anything? Any requests for character appearances? That kind of stuff)**

**Anyways…**

**I've written a few stories and posted them on Wattpad under the same username. Those of you that have a Wattpad account, add me :) **

**Could you do me a favor and check them out for me? I'm trying something new, writing my own stories, and I'm not really confident about my original (how about unoriginal?) works. Summaries will be posted on my profile.**

**On to the story, and I'm really sorry for the delay! I wrote an extra-long chapter this time, 'cause I felt really guilty about leaving this story for so long… Should only be a couple more weeks until I hand in the project…**

**Lots of drama in the next chapter, so be prepared XD**

**Disclaimer: Consider this story disclaimed.**

* * *

Tooth discreetly made her way through the halls, fiddling with the thin white sleeves of her stolen blouse. They were scratchy and uncomfortable, but she would bear with it, if it meant learning how to defend herself. Over the past few days since she had last seen Jack, she had done her best to ignore her jumbled and confused feelings and concentrated on her studies with Sandy. There were only a couple more months until her 18th birthday after all, and not being able to defend herself against Pitch would not be wise, considering his marriage offer still stood.

No other suitors had come forward to ask for her hand in marriage, unfortunately. Sandy suspected Pitch had something to do with it, and her mother was practically mad with worry over finding her a new husband.

"Why can't you just call the marriage off?" She had whined, clutching one of her mother's silk pillows to her chest as the Queen brushed and braided her hair. She hadn't told her mother about her lessons with Jack yet; somehow, she knew her mother would not be happy about her learning how to fight from a notorious thief.

"As much as I would like to, calling off the marriage would mean making an enemy of Pitch, daughter," her mother replied, running the comb through her brown hair. "Pitch may be a bad man, but he has many allies, including many of the nobles in our kingdom and other kingdoms. I am afraid he would stage a rebellion to steal the throne if we called the marriage off, Toothiana."

As much as she despised the thought of marrying Pitch, she could see the reason in her mother's explanation. Pitch was a very powerful man, and angering him would not be wise. She knew that.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she passed under the decorated stone archway on the way out of the castle, mumbling about how dreadfully horrible

Jack was supposed to be waiting for her at their regular meeting place, ready to train her. He was very patient with her, even when she had to try repeatedly to get the punches and kicks right; the punches and kicks Jack so effortlessly demonstrated for her every time.

A thief like him was teaching her how to fight. Tooth wasn't naïve – she knew Jack was here for a reason, and that reason wasn't to teach her how to fight. The only thing he could be here for had to be to steal something, but what?

Her father had a great many riches, though he mostly collected paintings from famous painters. Could Jack be after the royal jewels? Tooth was sure her father wouldn't mind if a few jewels went missing from the royal treasury, and the King mostly collected paintings as way to display how powerful and wealthy he was to the other kings.

Though recently, she had heard whispers of a beautiful painting that radiated sunlight and brought peace to whomever touched it. Surely a painting as wonderful as that would be in the possession of her father, for he was not one to let such a fantastical painting fall into the hands of another man.

The King was not greedy per se, but her mother had told her that because their kingdom was a peaceful one, they needed to display wealth and power to warn off other kingdoms from invading. That logic made no sense to Tooth; why would other kings even hesitate to attack if their kingdom was rich? Even if their army was strong, they were not known for their military prowess. Wouldn't the thought of bringing a rich kingdom under their rule be enough to make a king order the invasion of one such kingdom?

She had voiced those thoughts out to her mother once, and been rewarded with a deep, in-depth explanation of politics, which she had found dreadfully boring. Court politics were not something she excelled in; rather, she focused on her studies and dreamt about being a healer one day.

Of course, she would not be able to pursue her passion for medicine - all because she was born a princess.

How she wished she could be free like Jack. He had no one's expectations to fulfill, no duty to the kingdom. Though she knew it was not his fault, she could not help but be a little bit envious of Jack and his life as a thief. Not that she would ever replace her family and friends, for they were all too important to her for her to let go of.

That painting. Of course Jack was after that painting she had heard about, the one that was worth an entire castle's worth of gold, the one said to depict a scene of such beauty and splendor that anyone who lay eyes on it would know only joy and comfort. The painting of a fantastical kingdom in the sky, painted by the mysterious Tsar Lunar himself, was surely Jack's target. Her mother had told her it was hidden in a secret room under the castle, located in a room protected by the twisting tunnels of the castle's secret passageways. Nobody but her father could find it.

Tooth would not let him steal it. It was her father's painting now, and Tooth's strange feelings about Jack had no place in her plan to protect the painting. Nodding to herself, she schooled her face into a cheerful expression, a smile replacing the frown that had been on her face while she thought.

Jack was after her fathers painting, and she was going to stop him.

"Princess! King North has requested for you to dine with him in the evening, would you like to accept or decline this invitation?" A court messenger ran up to her, dipping into a short bow and almost tripping over his long cape in the process.

Tooth smiled, noticing the noonday sun shining on the messenger's exhausted face. She could tell North about Jack; he would know what to do.

"Take a break after this, Kyle. You look exhausted," she told the messenger after recognizing him as a newcomer to the castle staff.

"Thank you Princess, I will do that immediately." Kyle used his sleeve to wipe his brow, looking relieved and thankful. "But what of your reply?"

"Tell him I'll be there."

* * *

Jack waited for Tooth to arrive, sitting with his legs crossed on a large rock beside the pond, a smooth pebble in his hand. He tossed it up and down, the pebble making a soft _smack _as it hit his hand over and over again.

_Pant. Pant. Pant. _He perked up, hearing the sound of Tooth's frantic panting as she tried to suck air into her exhausted lungs. Her stolen blouse and pants clung to her body in all the right places. Her red cheeks only served to make her seem even more beautiful than usual, and her hair hung limply, halfway down her back, drenched in sweat. Jack chastised himself for thinking those thoughts. It would do him no good to think about Tooth that way - yes, she was more beautiful than any of the women he had met so far – but she was a princess.

She would never look at him that way anyways.

He wondered briefly if she was still angry with him; today was the first time he had seen her since that day in the kitchens. Why would she suddenly want to have a lesson on this particular day?

A thought struck him as he gazed at Tooth's still-panting form. She would be turning 18 soon – the official age of marriage in the kingdom. Which meant she would be marrying that sleazy, power-hungry Pitchiner Black.

He lips curled in disgust as he thought of her marrying Pitch in a couple months, and his hands automatically clenched themselves into fists. A flame of red-hot anger tore through him, shocking him in its ferocity. He thought of Tooth often; he thought of the way she smiled at him sometimes, the little things she did whenever she was nervous. He worried about her being mad at him. The worry was eating away at his insides, like an insidious poison.

What was he doing, feeling jealous of Pitch? Tooth could never be his, and Jack, being the realistic thinker he was, knew that all too well. Furthermore, why did he feel like he wanted to protect Tooth? He was supposed to be stealing a priceless painting from her father, and _feeling _something for the Princess would only stand in the way of his goal.

That didn't stop him from edging a tiny bit closer to Tooth, his hand raised, about to touch her back comfortingly.

Suddenly, Tooth's back straightened. Jack's guilty hand flew to his side, features set in a mortified expression.

"Jack. Good to see you," she said, one hand combing through her wind-blown hair. She must have run really quickly over here, he thought as he scooped up a handful of the clear pond water and offered it to her without thinking. She gave him a thankful look as she took both his hands in hers and raised them to her lips.

Jack's hands twitched at the sparks that he felt where Tooth's smooth, delicate fingers touched them. He could feel the heat on his face; the pleasant tingles going through his body at her touch.

**(Um… I have no idea where that came from. I'm really rusty, as you can see :P)**

When she had finished, Tooth hastily drew back and dropped his hands in what seemed to be embarrassment. Her cheeks were tinged in red; though from the run to the clearing or something else, Jack couldn't tell.

He was glad she wasn't mad at him anymore.

Tooth being mad at him made him feel anxious and restless, and he had had close to no sleep these past few days worrying about what he had done to make her mad.

He decided to drop it; if she wasn't mad at him anymore, than he would tread carefully to avoid making her mad again.

"Do you want to start?"

She nodded.

* * *

_Swish. _Jack dodged the poorly-thrown punch Tooth had thrown at him, strands of her brown hair plastered to her sweating forehead. Beads of perspiration made her white blouse cling to her body, though Jack kept his eyes on her face as she swung and he dodged.

Jack moved with a sort of cat-like grace, she thought. His movements were fluid, elegant and almost dance-like. This lesson, he had pronounced her ready to spar.

She had thought he meant he would fight against her, and had been terrified and aghast at the thought of fighting against Jack. Turns out, Jack had only meant she was to throw punches at him while he dodged, him commenting on her form and movements.

Not a minute had passed where Jack had not had something to say about her form; some imperfection in her stance, something wrong about the way she did not use her legs in the punch.

Finally, after Jack had called it a day, they had gone their separate ways. Jack returned to the castle, to help out in the kitchen or something, and Tooth went straight to her room to change into a dress.

She barely made it into he room before Imogen came barreling through the door, only to find her sprawled out on her stomach, surrounded by stacks of books she had prepared beforehand.

"Where have you been, Princess?! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Imogen sighed, her frantic and tense expression melting off her face as she visibly relaxed.

"I've been reading in my room this whole time, Imogen." That was the excuse Tooth decided to use. Imogen narrowed her eyes suspiciously and was about to open her mouth when somebody knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Tooth called from her position on the bed.

Her eyes widened in surprise and recognition when she saw the maid from a few days ago enter the room. She walked confidently, head held high, not bothering to look down as she dipped into a curtsy.

"May I have a word with the Princess, madam?" Lavinia asked, still maintaining eye contact with Tooth.

Imogen looked like she was about to object, but Tooth waved her off, murmuring a quick, 'Let her speak'. Flustered, the old lady left the room slowly, throwing a glance at Lavinia as she did so.

The door closed softly behind her.

"What did you want to talk to be about, Lavinia?" Tooth was curious as to what she had to say, for maids hardly ever visited her in her room. She lifted a glass of water to her lips, filling her parched throat with the cool liquid.

Lavinia looked at her with her eyes narrowed, as if inspecting her. Her expression changed into one of disbelief and understanding as she seemed to discover something through Tooth's face.

"Do you like Jack?"

Tooth almost choked on her water. Coughing and hacking, she tried to look as if she had no idea what the maid was talking about. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Even Tooth could tell Lavinia wasn't fooled, though the snort of disbelief might have told her more than Lavinia's face did.

"Please, Princess. Don't deny it," Lavinia scoffed, delicate hands on her rounded hips. "I can tell you do, so don't bother."

Did she like Jack? No, Tooth knew she did not like Jack. She couldn't. Even if she did, she liked him as a friend. So why did she feel jealous when she saw Lavinia cozying up to Jack a few days ago? Why did she feel butterflies in her stomach whenever Jack so much as looked her way?

"You're thinking about him right now." Lavinia had a smug look on her face, as if she knew exactly what Tooth was thinking. "Girls in love always glow whenever they think about their special someone."

Tooth was speechless. Did she really glow as Lavinia said? Even if she _did _like Jack, was she really that obvious? Everything was so confusing.

"Wh –"

"Good luck with him, Princess!" And with a smile and a short curtsy, Lavinia flounced off, leaving Tooth baffled and frozen.

What had just happened?

* * *

"Jack! I need you to help with the kitchen tonight! We're short of staff, so carry this plate and remember your manners!" Jack could hear the chef shouting at him as he cooked, sweat beading his forehead as he tossed, flipped, and chopped all manner of exotic and rich foods. The wonderful smells surrounded Jack's senses, making his mouth water.

He took the plate of food – what kind, he had no idea – from the cook and took measured, careful steps out into the dining hall.

Catching sight of Tooth, he gave her a small smile and proceeded to lay out the food.

**(By now, I'm kinda half dead from typing this many words, so bear with me -_-)**

King North was an impressive man. Towering above all the others assembled in the dining hall, the cups, plates, and utensils seemed miniature next to him, and everyone else was dwarfed by his height. He sat to the right of Tooth, with Tooth's mother the Queen sitting to his left. The King was nowhere in sight; probably in his study, as he always took his meals in there alone.

He stood back and watched as the rest of the servants laid out the rest of the food, a young man his age pouring out wine into polished bronze goblets. The man offered wine to King North, who took one, and the Queen, who declined.

Jack was to stand near King North, taking away plates and bringing in more food as needed. So he stood beside an exotic potted plant, watched, and waited.

* * *

Little Bird seemed off tonight, King North thought. He could tell her mind was elsewhere as she absent-mindedly picked at her food, fiddling with the fork and staring aimlessly off into space. Even when he was telling the story of how he got here and the most memorable events that had happened since he had last seen her, her gaze had been blank. Although she nodded her head often, he was sure she wasn't listening as she usually did.

As he took a sip of the wine he had been served, he relished in the taste of the sweet wine. This kingdom was known for its sweet wines; North had, one many occasions, stopped by to establish more trade connections. This years wine tasted particularly sweet.

Too sweet, it seemed.

Gone was the light tangy flavor of the delectable South east wine, replaced by a taste so sweet it tasted bitter. Something was wrong.

Something immediately clicked, and North scrambled to spit out the wine in his mouth. He was starting to feel dizzy and disoriented.

His head felt as if someone had stuffed it full of feathers. It struggled to process his next thoughts. He remembered the sly smirk of the servant that had served him the wine. He remembered all the times he had almost been poisoned by a neighboring kingdom. His hands seized up; he was paralyzed now.

Poison. The easiest way to get rid of somebody quickly and quietly. Black spots were appearing in his vision now.

Who was after him?

"King North!" The Queen scrambled to assist him, almost spilling her glass of water as she thrust it toward him.

"Uncle!" Little Bird's face conveyed her fear and horror.

'_It's a good thing Little Bird did not drink any wine…' _was North's last thought before his vision faded into black.

* * *

**Well, this chapter was horrible. Really. It just gave me a **_**bleh **_**feeling. Ah well….**

**Sorry for making you guys read this garbage. I could write it better, but I'm still rusty from a month of inactivity.**

**Again, please check out my Wattpad stories, I would appreciate it a lot!**

**Hmm… A random question?**

**Who're everyone's favourite character so far in SaP? I know mine are Sandy, Tooth and the Queen. **

**Review!**

**~Chilly**


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